Genetic Variation on the Control of Resistance to Infectious Diseases in Small Ruminants for Improving Animal Productivity
Closed for proposals
Project Type
Project Code
D31026CRP
1654Approved Date
Status
Start Date
Expected End Date
Completed Date
22 December 2016Description
Farmers in developing countries, due to the pressure for higher animal output and to the “advantages” of small number of highly specialized breeds from the developed world have been replacing or crossbreeding their local breeds with exotic animals for many years. The genetic improvement has been quite successful in many places; however, neglecting or upgrading indigenous animals with exotic breeds is deteriorating genetic diversity.
Much of the genetic biodiversity controls advantageous traits influencing adaptability to harsh environments, productivity, or disease resistance. However, these indigenous animals are underutilized in conventional breeding programmes, due to a lack of knowledge and failure to identify breeds and animals carrying the most advantageous traits. There are indigenous breeds with some degree of enhanced resistance as compared to exotic ones reared in the same environment, especially for gastrointestinal nematode infections. Therefore, the present CRP is aiming, through genomic studies using radiolabeled nucleotides in DNA hybridization, DNA characterization, and hybrid mapping procedures for identifying molecular markers of economic interest which will open possibilities in the future to select and breed animals for enhanced resistance to diseases. The CRP will also aim to develop capacity in developing countries in the use of molecular and related technologies and create opportunities for international research collaboration
Objectives
To improve productivity in smallholder livestock systems using gene based and related technologies
Specific objectives
- To develop capacity in developing countries in the use of molecular and related technologies and create opportunities for international research collaboration.
- To develop expertise on the use and development of bioinformatics tools for the analysis of large datasets of genomic data related to parasite resistance in various breeds
- To establish or improve programmes for animal identification and data recording for small ruminants in developing countries, allowing for the monitoring of production, reproduction and health traits and generating populations suitable for molecular genetic studies
- To provide valid data for the identification of genetic markers associated to infectious disease resistance and to initiate the development of tools for molecular diagnostics and assisted breeding
-To collect phenotypic data and DNA samples from goat and sheep breeds or populations within-breeds with history of infectious disease resistance
-To contribute on the development and use of nuclear technology for genomic research in small ruminants, including radiation hybrid map, Southern Blot with radioactive [a-³²P]ATP labelling in genetic marker analysis, and PCR-RFLP