Leslie A Lyons

University of California, Davis | UCD · Population Health & Reproduction

Case summary A 9-month-old entire male domestic longhair cat presented with a history of pathological fractures, chronic musculoskeletal pain and poor growth. Multiple facial and skeletal abnormalities were identified on physical examination and advanced imaging (CT and radiographs). A variant in CTSK was identified in the affected cat following wh...

The fishing cat, Prionailurus viverrinus, displays a fish hunting behavior uncommon among most other cats. Estimated population declines in the wild increase the significance of its existing zoo populations, particularly with a recent high prevalence of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), a form of bladder cancer. We hypothesize that its small capti...

Cat domestication likely initiated as a symbiotic relationship between wildcats ( Felis silvestris subspecies) and the peoples of developing agrarian societies in the Fertile Crescent. As humans transitioned from hunter-gatherers to farmers ~12,000 years ago, bold wildcats likely capitalized on increased prey density (i.e., rodents). Humans benefit...

Objective: Describe the clinical course and diagnostic and genetic findings in a cat with X-linked myotubular myopathy. Case summary: A 7-month-old male Maine coon was evaluated for progressively worsening gait abnormalities and generalized weakness. Neurolocalization was to the neuromuscular system. Genetic testing for spinal muscular atrophy (...

The mutation rate is a fundamental evolutionary parameter with direct and appreciable effects on the health and function of individuals. Here, we examine this important parameter in the domestic cat, a beloved companion animal as well as a valuable biomedical model. We estimate a mutation rate of 0.86 × 10−8 per bp per generation for the domestic c...

The current feline genotyping array of 63 k single nucleotide polymorphisms has proven its utility for mapping within breeds, and its use has led to the identification of variants associated with Mendelian traits in purebred cats. However, compared to single gene disorders, association studies of complex diseases, especially with the inclusion of r...

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a common and potentially fatal heart disease in many cat breeds. An intronic variant in TNNT2, c.95‐108G>A, was recently reported as the cause of HCM in the Maine Coon. The aim of this study was to determine this variant’s allele frequency in different populations and its possible association with HCM. Based on...

Pathogenic variants in retinol dehydrogenase 5 (RDH5) attenuate supply of 11-cis-retinal to photoreceptors leading to a range of clinical phenotypes including night blindness due to markedly slowed rod dark adaptation and in some patients, macular atrophy. Current animal models (such as Rdh5-/- mice) fail to recapitulate the functional or degenerat...

The current feline genotyping array of 63k single nucleotide polymorphisms has proven its utility within breeds, and its use has led to the identification of variants associated with Mendelian traits in purebred cats. However, compared to single gene disorders, association studies of complex diseases, especially with the inclusion of random bred ca...

Objective The aim of this study was to characterize the radiographic alignment of thoracic and pelvic limbs and evaluate for intervertebral disc disease in cats with feline disproportionate dwarfism (FDD). Study Design Observational cross-sectional study. Radiographic joint orientation angles were measured in 10 thoracic and pelvic limbs from 5 FDD...

The domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) is a valued companion animal throughout the world. Over 60 different cat breeds are accepted for competition by the cat fancy registries in different countries. Genetic markers, including short tandem repeats and SNPs, are available to evaluate and manage levels of inbreeding and genetic diversity, populati...

The amyloidoses constitute a group of diseases occurring in humans and animals that are characterized by abnormal deposits of aggregated proteins in organs, affecting their structure and function. In the Abyssinian cat breed, a familial form of renal amyloidosis has been described. In this study, multi-omics analyses were applied and integrated to...

The mutation rate is a fundamental evolutionary parameter with direct and appreciable effects on the health and function of individuals. Here, we examine this important parameter in the domestic cat, a beloved companion animal as well as a valuable biomedical model. We estimate a mutation rate of 0.86 × 10 ⁻⁸ per bp per generation for the domestic...

Over 94 million domestic cats are susceptible to cancers and other common and rare diseases. Whole exome sequencing (WES) is a proven strategy to study these disease-causing variants. Presented is a 35.7 Mb exome capture design based on the annotated Felis_catus_9.0 genome assembly, covering 201,683 regions of the cat genome. Whole exome sequencing...

Tabby patterns of fur coats are defining characteristics in wild and domestic felids. Historically, three autosomal alleles at one locus (Tabby): Abyssinian (Ta; a.k.a. ticked), mackerel (Tm; a.k.a. striped) and blotched (tb; a.k.a. classic, blotched) were thought to control these patterns in domestic cats and their breeds. Currently, at least thre...

Cats are ubiquitous companion animals that have been keenly associated with humans for thousands of years and only recently have been intentionally bred for aesthetically appealing coat looks and body forms. The intense selection on single gene phenotypes and the various breeding histories of cat breeds have left different marks on the genomes. Usi...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

In addition to including one of the most popular companion animals, species from the cat family Felidae serve as a powerful system for genetic analysis of inherited and infectious disease, as well as for the study of phenotypic evolution and speciation. Previous diploid-based genome assemblies for the domestic cat have served as the primary referen...

Diabetes mellitus, a common endocrinopathy affecting domestic cats, shares many clinical and pathologic features with type 2 diabetes in humans. In Australia and Europe, diabetes mellitus is almost four times more common among Burmese cats than in other breeds. As a genetically isolated population, the diabetic Australian Burmese cat provides a spo...

The domestic cat (Felis catus) numbers over 94 million in the USA alone, occupies households as a companion animal, and, like humans, suffers from cancer and common and rare diseases. However, genome-wide sequence variant information is limited for this species. To empower trait analyses, a new cat genome reference assembly was developed from PacBi...

The era of Precision / Genomic Medicine has arrived and can improve the veterinary healthcare of companion animals. The goal of Precision / Genomic Medicine is to use an individual's DNA signature / profile to tailor their treatments of their specific health problems. Whole genome sequencing is now a cost-effective diagnostic tool, leading to the d...

The era of precision/genomic medicine has arrived, including its application within veterinary medicine for the health care of companion animals. The plummeting costs of assaying large groups of genetic tests into one panel has led many laboratories offering direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing for animals, including cats. However, proper educa...

A variety of cat breeds have been developed via novelty selection on aesthetic, dermatological traits, such as coat colors and fur types. A recently developed breed, the lykoi (a.k.a. werewolf cat), was bred from cats with a sparse hair coat with roaning, implying full color and all white hairs. The lykoi phenotype is a form of hypotrichia, present...

An inherited neurologic syndrome in a family of mixed-breed Oriental cats has been characterized as forebrain commissural malformation, concurrent with ventriculomegaly and interhemispheric cysts. However, the genetic basis for this autosomal recessive syndrome in cats is unknown. Forty-three cats were genotyped on the Illumina Infinium Feline 63K...

A neutered male domestic medium-haired cat presented at a veterinary neurology clinic at 20 months of age due to progressive neurological signs that included visual impairment, focal myoclonus, and frequent severe generalized seizures that were refractory to treatment with phenobarbital. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed diffuse global brain atro...

Over 94 million domestic cats are considered pets, who, as our companions, are also susceptible to cancers, common and rare diseases. Whole exome sequencing (WES) is a cost-effective strategy to study their putative disease-causing variants. Presented is ~35.8 Mb exome capture design based on the annotated Felis_catus_9.0 genome assembly, covering...

An inherited neurologic syndrome in a family of mixed-breed Oriental cats has been characterized as forebrain commissural malformation concurrent with ventriculomegaly and interhemispheric cysts. However, the genetic basis for this autosomal recessive syndrome in cats is unknown. Forty-three cats were genotyped on the Illumina Infinium Feline 63K i...

A variety of cat breeds have been developed via novelty selection on aesthetic, dermatological traits, such as coat colors and fur types. A recently developed breed, the lykoi, was bred from cats with a sparse hair coat with roaning, implying full color and all white hairs. The lykoi phenotype is a form of hypotrichia, presenting as significant red...

Kinesin-2 enables ciliary assembly and maintenance as an anterograde intraflagellar transport (IFT) motor. Molecular motor activity is driven by a heterotrimeric complex comprised of KIF3A and KIF3B or KIF3C plus one non-motor subunit, KIFAP3. Using exome sequencing, we identified heterozygous KIF3B variants in two unrelated families with hallmark...

The genomic era has led to an unprecedented increase in the availability of genome‐wide data for a broad range of taxa. Wildlife management strives to make use of these vast resources to enable refined genetic assessments that enhance biodiversity conservation. However, as new genomic platforms emerge, problems remain in adapting the usually comple...

Chediak-Higashi Syndrome (CHS) is a well-characterized, autosomal recessively inherited lysosomal disease caused by mutations in lysosomal trafficking regulator (LYST). The feline model for CHS was originally maintained for ~20 years. However, the colonies were disbanded and the CHS cat model was lost to the research community before the causative...

The domestic cat ( Felis catus ) numbers over 94 million in the USA alone, occupies households as a companion animal, and, like humans, suffers from cancer and common and rare diseases. However, genome-wide sequence variant information is limited for this species. To empower trait analyses, a new cat genome reference assembly was developed from Pac...

Targeted GBS is a recent approach for obtaining an effective characterization for hundreds to thousands of markers. The high throughput of next‐generation sequencing technologies, moreover, allows sample multiplexing. The aims of this study were to (i) define a panel of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the cat, (ii) use GBS for profiling 1...

The survival of indigenous European wildcat (Felis silvestris silvestris) populations can be locally threatened by introgressive hybridization with free-ranging domestic cats. Identifying pure wildcats and investigating the ancestry of admixed individuals becomes thus a conservation priority. We analyzed 63k cat Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP...

Despite the contribution of a few major genes for disproportionate dwarfism in humans, many dwarf patients are yet genetically undiagnosed. In domestic cats, disproportionate dwarfism has led to the development of a defined breed, the Munchkin or Minuet. This study examined the genetic aspects of feline dwarfism to consider cats as a new biomedical...

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

A novel coloration named ‘mocha’ has been identified in the Burmese cat breed from Thailand. Tyrosinase (TYR) mutations are known to be associated with coat coloration in cats, such as the sable Burmese, the points of the Siamese and albino cats. Additionally, sable Burmese that produced mocha‐colored cats had unexpected genotypes for TYR. Therefor...

Background Copy Number Variations (CNVs) have becoming very significant variants, representing a major source of genomic variation. CNVs involvement in phenotypic expression and different diseases has been widely demonstrated in humans as well as in many domestic animals. However, genome wide investigation on these structural variations is still mi...

Sequence diversity of Tp53 gene was analyzed in dog tumors to have an insight of accumulated somatic mutations in 18 samples belongs to 7 different types of cancers. Nine different polymorphic sites were observed in exon 3, 4 and 5, while 32 polymorphic sites are observed in intron 3, 4 and 9. Most of these alterations are heterozygous, locus c.76...

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

Scientific Reports 7: Article number: 43918; published online: 21 March 2017; updated: 18 May 2018 The Acknowledgements section in this Article is incomplete. “Funding was provided by The University of Missouri, College of Veterinary Medicine Clinician Scientist Grant 2014 (JWP). Funding for the 99 Lives Cat Genome Sequencing Initiative has been pr...

The development of high throughput SNP genotyping technologies has improved the genetic dissection of simple and complex traits in many species including cats. The properties of feline 62,897 SNPs Illumina Infinium iSelect DNA array are described using a dataset of over 2,000 feline samples, the most extensive to date, representing 41 cat breeds, a...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0154973.].

Background: Between 2000 and 2012, nine cats were examined with a visually distinctive, progressive crusting dermatitis that was poorly responsive to all attempted therapies. Objectives: Documentation of clinical and histopathological findings of this disease. Animals: Nine privately owned cats. Methods: Retrospective study. Results: Eight...

Aims: To determine the frequency of the FAS-ligand gene (FASLG) variant associated with feline autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (FALPS) and the proportion of carriers of the variant in three British shorthair (BSH) breeding catteries in New Zealand. Methods: Buccal swabs were collected from all cats in two BSH breeding catteries from the...

Amyloidosis is a group of primary and secondary diseases characterized by the abnormal deposition of insoluble fibrillary proteins in different organs . Mammals, including felids and humans, are affected. More than twenty-eight types of Amyloidosis have been identified in humans occurring via genetic mutations (hereditary), proteins increased produ...

The term amyloidosis is referred to a heterogeneous group of metabolic diseases that frequently arise as a consequence of the improper folding of some autologous proteins. Protein aggregation and deposition is reported in different organs. In felids, amyloidosis was observed in fancy pedigreed breeds and random bred cats and cases were also reporte...

Amyloidosis is a rare disorder which occurs in different species including humans, chickens and wild and domestic felids. The disease is characterized by the abnormal deposition of amyloid proteins in organs or tissues causing different associated maladies. Feline amyloidosis can be inherited or acquired, often secondary to chronic inflammatory pro...

African black-footed cats (Felis nigripes) are endangered wild felids. One male and full-sibling female African black-footed cat developed vision deficits and mydriasis as early as 3 months of age. The diagnosis of early-onset progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) was supported by reduced direct and consensual pupillary light reflexes, phenotypic prese...

British shorthair (BSH) kittens in multiple litters died as a result of a severe non-neoplastic lymphoproliferative disease that showed many similarities with human autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS). Human ALPS is caused by inherited defects in FAS-mediated lymphocyte apoptosis and the possibility of similar defects was investigated in...

Background: Molecular marker based cancer diagnosis gaining more attention in the current genomics era. So, Hspb1 and Tp53 gene characterization and their mRNA expression might be helpful in diagnosis andprognosis ofcat mammary ade- nocarcinoma. It will also add informationin comparative cancer genetics and genomics. Objectives: Eight tumors of Sia...

Table of contents A1 One health advances and successes in comparative medicine and translational research Cheryl Stroud A2 Dendritic cell-targeted gorilla adenoviral vector for cancer vaccination for canine melanoma Igor Dmitriev, Elena Kashentseva, Jeffrey N. Bryan, David T. Curiel A3 Viroimmunotherapy for malignant melanoma in the companion dog m...

The release of new DNA-based diagnostic tools has increased tremendously in companion animals. Over 70 different DNA variants are now known for the cat, including DNA variants in disease-associated genes and genes causing aesthetically interesting traits. The impact genetic tests have on animal breeding and health management is significant because...