如果你想知道新養(yǎng)的毛茸茸的小狗是一個逗人喜愛的朋友,，還是對路過的人都會咆哮幾聲,，咬上一口，你可能應(yīng)該檢查一下它的基因長度,。
日本東京大學(xué)的Akitsugu Konno和同事請100位秋田犬的主人填寫了他們的雜種狗是不聽話還是討人喜歡的調(diào)查問卷,。
當(dāng)研究人員對小狗的脫氧核糖核酸（DNA）展開研究時，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)最讓人討厭的公狗往往攜帶了一個變短的基因，它作為受體對不同的雄性激素作出響應(yīng),。
這種基因變異產(chǎn)生了一種蛋白質(zhì)形式,，后者之前曾被發(fā)現(xiàn)能夠?qū)ΣG丸素作出更加強(qiáng)烈的響應(yīng)。
這是第一次將犬科動物的進(jìn)攻性與雄性激素受體中的遺傳差異聯(lián)系起來,。
研究人員在本周的《生物學(xué)快報》上報告了這一研究成果,。
在研究人員調(diào)查的秋田犬中超過半數(shù)攜帶了這種變異。而與溫和的狗相比,，令人討厭的母狗攜帶這種短變異的幾率并沒有增加,，這意味著雌性對于這些激素有著不同的響應(yīng)。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
Biol. Lett. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0087
Androgen receptor gene polymorphisms are associated with aggression in Japanese Akita Inu
Akitsugu Konno1,2,*, Miho Inoue-Murayama3 and Toshikazu Hasegawa1
We tested for an association between variable number of tandem repeats in the canine androgen receptor (AR) gene and personality differences in Japanese Akita Inu dogs. The polymorphic trinucleotide (CAG) repeat region coding for glutamine in exon 1 of the AR gene was genotyped using genomic DNA obtained from 171 dogs. Three alleles (23, 24 and 26 repeats) were detected, and the allele frequency differed with the coat colour. We assessed the personality profiles of 100 fawn-coloured dogs (54 males and 46 females) based on a questionnaire answered by each dog's owner. The questionnaire consisted of five sub-scales (sociability, playfulness, neuroticism, aggressiveness, distractibility), and the psychometric properties were acceptable based upon internal consistency of the subscales. We found that male dogs with a short allele conferring increased AR function had higher aggressiveness scores than male dogs with longer alleles. By contrast, no evidence was found for a relationship between AR gene variants and personality in females. To our knowledge, our findings provide the first evidence of polymorphism in the AR gene being associated with canine aggression.
