USA Blog
NZ Teams Up With US & Aussies to Map Sheep Genome
Monday, 18 August 2008
Sheep have always been important to New Zealand, and now Otago researchers have teamed up with others in Australia and the United States to develop a cutting-edge tool to pinpoint the genetic differences responsible for a variety of commercially important traits in sheep.
(via University World News) The International Sheep Genomics Consortium undertook this work using the latest genetic sequencing technologies. 454 sequencing was used to construct an assembly of the sheep genome from six animals derived from different breeds. The sequencing work was distributed among four labs, including the University of Otago in New Zealand. Agricultural research firm AgResearch was also involved in the New Zealand portion of the project.
The results of the analyses will soon be available to researchers around the world via a number of websites, including the sheep genome browser, enabling researchers to view the Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in the context of the sheep genome assembly. The new SNP chip has the potential to revolutionise the future selection and breeding of sheep globally.
The sheep genome is the first mammalian genome to be assembled in the Southern Hemisphere and by researchers not affiliated with a large sequencing facility. The work was funded by an International Science Linkages grant (Australia), Ovita (New Zealand), Sheep Genomics (a joint venture between Meat and Livestock Australia and Australian Wool Innovation Ltd) and Genesis Faraday.
Share this article
Subscribe to this blog 