Genetics and Breeding

Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus), dromedary (Camelus dromedarius) and alpaca (Vicugna pacos) are economically important livestock. Although the Bactrian camel and dromedary are large, typically arid-desert-adapted mammals, alpacas are adapted to plateaus. Here we present high-quality genome sequences of these three species. Our analysis reveals the demographic history of these species since the Tortonian Stage of the Miocene and uncovers a striking correlation between large fluctuations in population size and geological time boundaries. Comparative genomic analysis reveals complex features related to desert adaptations, including fat and water metabolism, stress responses to heat, aridity, intense ultraviolet radiation and choking dust. Transcriptomic analysis of Bactrian camels further reveals unique osmoregulation, osmoprotection and compensatory mechanisms for water reservation underpinned by high blood glucose levels. We hypothesize that these physiological mechanisms represent kidney evolutionary adaptations to the desert environment. This study advances our understanding of camelid evolution and the adaptation of camels to arid-desert environments. more »

The last five years has witnessed the completion of reference genome projects for each of the major livestock species, along with the application of high throughput SNP genotyping to fast track gene discovery and genomic prediction. This paper explores one possible new direction in genomics and its possible impact on animal science. An international project has been initiated that aims to identify the genomic regions responsible for gene regulation, thereby providing functional annotation of animal genomes FAANG). This seeks to increase our ability to interpret variation in genome sequence and predict the resulting phenotypic consequence. This has large implications for animal science and in particular animal breeding, given a key objective of genomic prediction is to use molecular data (currently SNP) to predict genetic merit. To successfully annotate the regulatory elements in genomic sequence, the FAANG Consortium has been created to provide coordination and standardisation in data collection, uality control and analysis. Aspects of the consortium are described, along with information on Australia’s current and future contributions. more »