Characterisation of the UK domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) population for identification purposes using a forensically validated set of 13 autosomal STR markers

Canine evidence in the UK is currently not being fully investigated, partly due to the lack of comprehensive genetic databases that are able to clarify the complexity of the highly inbred breeds that make up the canine population. The study here proposes the use of the CaDNAP markers, a forensically validated panel, to be applied to the wider UK canine population. For this purpose, over 1200 dogs have been genotyped for 13 STRs, belonging to 80 breeds. Mathematical corrections have been investigated to address the uneven breed distribution in the country in order to produce a more reliable allele frequency database for the whole UK canine population. In addition, a selection of the most common breeds (11) has been further investigated to produce allele frequency databases that are breed-specific with the aim of producing more accurate match probabilities should the breed of the animal of interest be known. The application of either set of frequencies has been scrutinized to evaluate their applicability in the field and are compared to current databases available in mainland Europe. A recommendation is made to use a minimum F_ST correction of 0.2 when estimating direct match likelihood ratios from whole country allele frequency databases.