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Brazilian hair sheep constitute a genetic diversity hotspot. These animals are found in the harsh environments of the Brazilian Northwest (semi-arid) region. Genotypes (50K SNP chip) from seven Brazilian sheep breeds (five hair and two coarse wool types) and 87 worldwide breeds were used to test for population structure, admixture and genetic diversity. Moreover, phylogenetic trees evaluating migration events between genetic groups were built. Brazilian Somali, a fat-tailed breed, had a close relationship with East African breeds and clustered distinctly from other Brazilian breeds. Brazilian Blackbelly and Barbados Blackbelly had a close relationship. The Morada Nova breed did not show close relationships with European or African breeds, revealing a single migration event from an Algerian hair breed. Brazilian Fat-tail and Morada Nova share a common ancestor, but the former showed introgressions from Brazilian Somali and Afrikaner breeds, explaining the fat-tail phenotype. The Santa Inês breed received a substantial contribution from Brazilian Bergamasca and showed an admixed origin with recent introgressions from other breeds, mainly from Suffolk. Furthermore, Brazilian Somali and Brazilian Fat-tail are the most endangered sheep genetic resources in Brazil and should be the focus for ex situ conservation programs. In conclusion, Brazilian hair sheep show an African origin and are characterized by diverse genetic composition, reinforcing the need for conservation of these genetic resources, and at the same time, this highly diverse group has variability that can be used in breeding programs., (© 2021 Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics.)

The number of follicles recruited in each estrous cycle has gained practical importance in artificial reproductive technology, as it determines the oocyte yield from ultrasound-guided ovum pickup for in vitro embryo production. We aimed to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in bovine genes related to reproductive physiology and evaluate the association between the candidate SNPs and the number of oocytes collected from ultrasound-guided ovum pickup. We sequenced genomic segments of GDF9, FGF8, FGF10 and BMPR2 and identified seventeen SNPs in the Bos taurus and Bos indicus breeds. Two SNPs cause amino acid changes in the proteins GDF9 and FGF8. Three SNPs in GDF9, FGF8 and BMPR2 were genotyped in 217 Nelore cows (B. indicus), while two previously identified mutations in LHCGR and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) were genotyped in the same group. The polymorphisms in GDF9, FGF8, BMRP2 and LHCGR were significantly associated (P<0.01) with the number of oocytes collected by ovum pickup, whereas the SNP in the mtDNA was not. In addition, we estimated an allelic substitution effect of 1.13±0.01 (P<0.01) oocytes for the SNP in the FGF8 gene. The results we report herein provide further evidence to support the hypothesis that genetic variability is an important component of the number of antral follicles in the bovine ovary., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Functional genomics is an experimental approach that incorporates genome-wide or system-wide experimentation, expanding the scope of biological investigation from studying single genes to studying potentially all genes at once in a systematic manner. This technology is highly appealing because of its high throughput and relatively low cost. Furthermore, analysis of gene expression using microarrays is likely to be more biologically relevant than the conventional paradigm of reductionism, because it has the potential to uncover new biological connections between genes and biochemical pathways. However, functional genomics is still in its infancy, especially with regard to the study of pig reproduction. Currently, efforts are centred on developing the necessary resources to enable high throughput evaluation and comparison of gene expression. However, it is clear that in the near future functional genomics will be applied on a large scale to study the biology and physiology of reproduction in pigs, and to understand better the complex nature of genetic control over polygenic characteristics, such as ovulation rate and litter size. We can look forward to generating a significant amount of new data on differences in gene expression between genotypes, treatments, or at various temporal and spatial coordinates within a variety of reproductively relevant systems. Along with this capability will be the challenge of collating, analysing and interpreting datasets that are orders of magnitude more extensive and complex than those currently used. Furthermore, integration of functional genomics with traditional genetic approaches and with detailed analysis of the proteome and relevant whole animal phenotypes will be required to make full use of this powerful new experimental paradigm as a beneficial research tool.

To generate a domestic horse genome map we integrated synteny information for markers screened on a somatic cell hybrid (SCH) panel with published information for markers physically assigned to chromosomes. The mouse-horse SCH panel was established by fusing pSV2neo transformed primary horse fibroblasts to either RAG or LMTk mouse cells, followed by G418 antibiotic selection. For each of the 108 cell lines of the panel, we defined the presence or absence of 240 genetic markers by PCR, including 58 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers and 182 microsatellites. Thirty-three syntenic groups were defined, comprised of two to 26 markers with correlation coefficient (r) values ranging from 0.70 to 1.0. Based on significant correlation values with physically mapped microsatellite (type II) or gene (type I) markers, 22 syntenic groups were assigned to horse chromosomes (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 30, X and Y). The other 11 syntenic groups were provisionally assigned to the remaining chromosomes based on information provided by heterologous species painting probes and work in progress with type I markers.

Summary A low-density, male-based linkage map was constructed as one of the objectives of the International Equine Gene Mapping Workshop. Here we report the second generation map based on testing 503 half-sibling offspring from 13 sire families for 344 informative markers using the crimap program. The multipoint linkage analysis localized 310 markers (90%) with 257 markers being linearly ordered. The map included 34 linkage groups representing all 31 autosomes and spanning 2262 cM with an average interval between loci of 10.1 cM. This map is a milestone in that it is the first map with linkage groups assigned to each of the 31 automosomes and a single linkage group to all but three chromosomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]