Detection of structural variants in zebu cattle using next generation sequencing data

• Grant number: 20/07051-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2020
• End date: June 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Reproduction
• Principal Investigator: José Fernando Garcia
• Grantee: Natália Fonseca Alves
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FMVA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araçatuba. Araçatuba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Taurine (Bos tauru) and zebu (Bos indicus) cattle have established a close relationship with humans about ten thousand years ago when they were domesticated. Bovine milk and meat are very important for the nutrition and subsistence of billions of people. While zebu is extremely adapted to (sub-)tropical climates and resistant to infectious and parasitic diseases, taurine cattle are more productive, adapted to temperate climates, and susceptible to diseases. These phenotypic differences can be partially explained by divergence in their DNA sequences. Particularly, Copy Number Variation (CNV) is a type of genetic variation capable of producing direct phenotypic differences between animals. CNV consists of DNA duplications or deletions that span few to millions of nucleotides. CNV mapping in zebu using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is an interesting approach to search for genetic variants related to bovine adaption to heat and resistance to pathogens. Therefore, this project proposes the detection of CNVs in zebu genomes using NGS data. The data that will be used in this project were obtained from previous studies from our research group (Brazil), as well as from collaborators (Africa) and public repositories (Pakistan).

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

TRIGO, BEATRIZ BATISTA; ALVES, NATALIA FONSECA; MILANESI, MARCO; GARCIA, JOSE FERNANDO; TEREFE, ENDASHAW; HANOTTE, OLIVIER; TIJJANI, ABDULFATAI; UTSUNOMIYA, YURI TANI. A structural variant at ASIP associated with the darkness of hair coat is found in multiple zebu cattle populations. ANIMAL GENETICS, v. 54, n. 4, p. 5-pg., 2023-06-14. (20/07051-3)