In view of the very large spectrum of polymorphism observed within the 300 breeds which compose the dog species, the dog appears to be a very attractive model to identify genes involved in phenotypic, behavioural and pathological traits. We have undertaken the construction of a genome map of the Canis familiaris species.
  A canine Whole Genome Radiation Hybrid panel of 126 hybrid cell lines (RHDF5000) has been constructed by fusing dog fibroblasts, irradiated at 5000 rads, with TK Hamster cells.
  A first canine radiation hybrid map has been established by typing 400 markers, comprising 218 genes and 182 microsatellites. We have extended the first WG-RH map to generate a new RH map composed of 600 markers.
  Integration of this map with the 3rd generation linkage map through the mapping of 217 common markers provides an integrated map of the canine genome.