Breedmap - Breed specific mapping of bovine genomes for improved productivity

The global demand for animal-based food products is anticipated to increase by 70% by 2050 according to FAO.

Maximising the productivity of livestock well suited to a wide variety of environments is therefore a key priority to feed the world in an environmentally sustainable manner.

The BreedMaps project will harness genomic information collected by long read sequencing to study the contribution of structural variations to the phenotypic diversity of cattle breeds.The project will generate the first-ever reference high quality de novo assemblies of dairy cattle (Holstein, Swedish Red and White and Jersey) as well as the South African indigenous breed Afrikaner and the composite breed Bonsmara (Afrikaner, Hereford and Shorthorn).

Eight additional individuals of each breed will also be sequenced to identify structural variants characteristic for each breed.The preservation of breeds well adapted to local environments while improving economic competitiveness is important to ensure the sustainability of breeds such as the Swedish Red and White, Jersey and Afrikaner which are all highly regarded for their excellent health traits.

Identifying structural genetic elements under selection in the different breeds of the project will enable the more rapid removal of deleterious variations and by improving our understanding of structural variations which are often located in regulatory regions outside the protein-coding regions of the genome or obscured by repetitive sequences.