Whole-genome sequencing finds heart disease variant in two Maine Coon

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to perform a proof-of-concept experiment that validates a precision medicine approach to identify variants associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We hypothesized that whole-genome sequencing would identify variant(s) associated with HCM in two affected Maine Coon/Maine Coon cross cats when compared with 79 controls of various breeds. METHODS: Two affected and two control Maine Coon/Maine Coon cross cats had whole-genome sequencing performed at approximately × 30 coverage. Variants were called in these four cats and 77 cats of various breeds as part of the 99 Lives Cat Genome Sequencing Initiative ( http://felinegenetics.missouri.edu/99lives ) using Platypus v0.7.9.1, annotated with dbSNP ID, and variants' effect predicted by SnpEff. Strict filtering criteria (alternate allele frequency >49%) were applied to identify homozygous-alternate or heterozygous variants in the two HCM-affected samples when compared with 79 controls of various breeds. RESULTS: A total of four variants were identified in the two Maine Coon/Maine Coon cross cats with HCM when compared with 79 controls after strict filtering. Three of the variants identified in genes12,and5 did not segregate with disease in a separate cohort of seven HCM-affected and five control Maine Coon/Maine Coon cross cats. The remaining variant3 segregated with disease status. Furthermore, this gene was previously associated with heart disease and encodes for a protein with sarcomeric function. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: This proof-of-concept experiment identified the previously reported3 A31P Maine Coon variant in two HCM-affected cases. This result validates and highlights the power of whole-genome sequencing for feline precision medicine.