Illumina Ovine SNP Chip to Spur New Round of Association Studies

Eggen added that due to INRA’s previous experience with Labogena in serving the cattle
industry, it would likely follow a similar model when it came time to implement animal
selection testing for sheep breeders.
“The industry sends blood samples from young calves to Labogena [which] performs the
genotyping, and INRA compiles a genomic index assessing the genomic value of an
animal,” Eggen explained. “The industry can then select the young calves they want to
raise and produce semen from. That is a way in which we have implemented such a
program within the industry.”
Israel
ISGC participants from countries with smaller industries also have plans to conduct
similar studies, albeit on a lesser scale. According to Elisha Gootwine, a scientist in the
Agricultural Research Organization, the research arm of the Israel Ministry of
Agriculture, plans are being made at the ARO’s Institute for Animal Science in Bet
Dagan to genotype several breeds of Israeli sheep.
He said that ARO is now collecting samples from three different breeds and hopes to
outsource the genotyping to CSIRO’s facilities in Brisbane. ARO and CSIRO will work
together to analyze the resulting data.
“We hope to get information regarding breed diversity and how breeds differ from other
breeds in the world,” Gootwine told BioArray News this week. “By comparing the
markers on the genome, we can see how breeds are similar and in what regions they are
similar to other breeds. By collecting samples, we can also collect data on how animals
differ in certain productive traits.”
Gootwine noted that agriculture accounts for about 2.5 percent of Israeli GDP, part of
which is derived from exporting sheep milk and meat. “We have both dairy production
and lamb production in Israel,” he said. “It is not a big business, but some people live on
sheep production, and that is why we are working on it.”