Project description:To test if LEDGF/p75 influences distribution of Maedi-visna virus (MVV) integration sites, we infected sheep CPT3, LKO1 (PSIP1-null), LHKO1 and LHKO2 (PSIP1/HDGFL2-null) cells with MVV-derived vector. Genomic DNA was isolated from infected cells, and chromosomal junctions at integrated U5 vDNA ends were amplified using linker-mediated PCR, sequenced using Illumina technology and mapped to sheep genome.
Project description:Milk and dairy products are an essential food and an economic resource in many countries. Milk component synthesis and secretion by the mammary gland involve expression of a large number of genes whose nutritional regulation remains poorly defined. We aim at understanding the genomic influence on milk quality and synthesis by comparing two sheep breeds, with different milking attitude, Sarda and Gentile di Puglia, using sheep-specific microarray technology. From sheep ESTs deposited at NCBI, we generated the first annotated microarray developed for sheep with a covering of most of the genome.
Project description:Lack of resistance to pink snow mould (Microdochium nivale) is seen as a major constraint for adaptation of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) at higher latitudes. Plants generally become more resistant to snow moulds after cold acclimation, and almost all investigations of genetic variation in resistance have been performed using cold acclimated plants. However, there may be variation in resistance mechanisms that are functioning independently of cold acclimation. In this study our aim was to identify candidate genes involved in such resistance mechanisms. We first characterized variation in resistance to M. nivale among non-acclimated plants of eight genotypes from the Norwegian cultivar Fagerlin and selected one resistant and one susceptible genotype for transcriptome analysis. Total RNA was extracted from leaf blade tissue of plants exposed to three different treatments: non-inoculated and non-incubated plants, non-inoculated plants after four days of incubation, and inoculated plants after four days of incubation. cDNA libraries were prepared and paired-end sequencing performed using Illumina Hiseq 2000. Transcriptome profiles, GO enrichment and KEGG pathway analysis indicate that defence response related genes are differentially expressed between incubated non-inoculated and incubated inoculated conditions both within resistant and susceptible genotypes. A significant up-regulation of defence related genes as well as genes involved in cell wall cellulose metabolic processes and aryl-alcohol dehydrogenase (NADP+) activity was observed in the resistant genotype. The candidate genes identified in this study might be potential molecular marker resources for breeding perennial ryegrass cultivars with improved resistance to pink snow mould.
Project description:We carried out a cross species cattle-sheep array comparative genome hybridization (aCGH) experiment in order to identify copy number variations (CNVs) in the sheep genome analysing animals of Italian dairy breeds (Sarda, Bagnolese, Laticauda, Massese and Valle del Belice) using a tiling oligonucleotide array with ~385,000 probes designed on the bovine genome. We identified 135 CNV regions (CNVRs) covering about 10.5 Mb of the virtual sheep genome referred to the bovine genome (0.398%) with a mean and median equal to 77.6 kb and 55.9 kb, respectively. A comparative analysis between the identified sheep CNVRs and those reported in the cattle and goat genomes indicated that overlaps between sheep and goat and sheep and cattle CNVRs are highly significant (P<0.0001) suggesting that several chromosome regions might contain recurrent interspecies CNVRs. Many sheep CNVs affect genes with important biological functions. Further studies are needed to evaluate the functional relevance of these CNVs.