Sequencing the Swine Genome

January 17, 2007 — 

A $10 million U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant is enabling members of the Swine Genome Sequencing Consortium, an international coalition of researchers, to develop a draft sequence of the swine genome according to an article published in the January 2007 issue of Agricultural Research.

The pig genome will be the first mammalian genome to have a complete bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) map before being sequenced. Previous genome sequencing efforts for other organisms have used a "whole-genome shotgun" approach to assemble approximately 30 million sequencing segments, similar to assembling a 30-million-piece jigsaw puzzle.

Researchers at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service's (ARS) Meat and Animal Research Center in Clay Center, Nebraska are leading the ARS's swine genome research efforts. The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) grant will fund a 2-year project that will enable researchers to identify genes that influence important traits and will help them develop new tools to identify and select pigs with desirable characteristics. The ability to select traits such as disease resistance, production efficiency, and palatability will enhance the competitiveness of U.S. pork in international markets, says ARS project leader Gary Rohrer.

Because the pig and human genomes are so similar, information gleaned from the swine genome sequencing effort could be useful to the human medical community. Pig and human genomes resemble one another in size, organization, and complexity. And pigs, like humans, are omnivores, so our diets and metabolisms are similar. This makes the pig genome a particularly apt candidate for biomedical research.

Source:
ARS, News and Events