The use of targeted genotyping-by-sequencing (tGBS) for genetic selection of Nelore cattle

• Grant number: 18/06992-9
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: December 01, 2018
• End date: August 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Genetics and Improvement of Domestic Animals
• Principal Investigator: Daniel Robert Arnold
• Grantee: Daniel Robert Arnold
• Company: VRGEN Laboratório de DNA Ltda
• CNAE: Criação de bovinos ; Atividades de apoio à agricultura
• Associated researchers: Flavia Lombardi Lopes
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/25678-3 - The use of targeted Genotyping-by-Sequencing (tGBS) for genetic selection of Nelore cattle, BP.PIPE

Abstract

The ever growing Brazilian cattle industry is constantly procuring new ways to improve production. With the advances in biotechnologies, cattle producers are now able to implement molecular marker-assisted genetic selection into their herds to produce more efficient, superior animals. By using molecular markers such as single polymorphism nucleotides (SNPs), producers can select which animals carry the SNPs associated with the phenotypic traits they desire. Over the past decade, Brazilian cattle producers have started to embrace this technology. While establishing a genotypic/phenotypic database, by screening for hundreds of thousands of SNPs from a breed or herd is required, it is too costly to screen all animals by array chip technology. However, a new technology is starting to emerge on the market called targeted genotyping-by sequencing (tGBS). Targeted GBS allows for the screening of selected SNPs that are most important for the traits of interest. Once the producer or breed association has established which SNPs are most important for the desired traits, a personalized tGBS panel can be established. The advantages of tGBS are the ability to focus the screening to the SNPs of interest (personalized), faster results, provide more genetic information and a lower cost, which would allow producers to screen a large portion or even the totatlity of their herds. This technology has already been established for cancer screening in humans and plant genetic selection, but has not yet reached the livestock industry. The proposed project aims to determine the accuracy, consistency and quality of imputation for genetic selection of tGBS panels of 2,000 and 5,000 SNPs against the array technology currently on the market for cattle. By establishing tGBS technology as a reliable, faster and cheaper alternative, more Brazilian cattle producers will be able to utilize genetic selection on their farms to continue Brazil's reign as the world leader in cattle production. (AU)