Pig Genome Update No. 88angenmap@animalgenome.orgJanuary 1, 2008 |
Happy Holidays and New Year to you, your families and colleagues!!
PAG-XVI and the swine genome and NRSP8 meetings will be held January.
12-16, 2008 at the usual spot, the Town and Country Hotel, San Diego,
CA. The program is available at(http://www.intl-pag.org/16/16-pag.html).
The swine genome meeting NC1004 will be held all day on Saturday,
January 12 and the swine genome sequencing meeting will begin at 12:45
pm Sunday January 13. Also of importance on Sunday January 13- from
3:35 pm - 5:45 pm is the NRSP-8 Business Meeting. The Swine Genome
Coordinator again have some funds to help with travel support for NAGRP
members or their lab members so please contact the Coordinator as soon
as possible.
NSIF - The National Swine Improvement Federation, recently met in Kansas
City. About 75 people attended this annual meeting. A number of
excellent papers were presented that included updates on the swine
genome sequencing project, the use of genetic markers in beef cattle and
swine industries, micro RNA technology, eQTL and discovery of markers
for growth, disease resistance and meat quality. Other talks also
included projects of interest to swine geneticists including the release
of new genetic markers for use in the swine industry.
SNP chip development underway. A consortium from the USDA (ARS, CSREES),
University of Illinois, Iowa State University and the National Pork
Board is currently undertaking a concerted effort to develop a high
density (~50K) SNP chip for pigs. The consortium is aiming to develop
this research tool by mid 2008. It is envisioned this research tool will
be employed widely by the porcine research community to drive gene
discovery and association analyses and eventually whole genome
selection. The SNPs included for this project will be selected from
those in public databases on February 1, 2008. The consortium would like
to invite researchers interested in access to this technology to join
their group. In addition, investigators possessing SNP information that
has not been placed in public databases are encouraged to submit their
information as soon as possible so that the most useful set of SNP can
be included in the final product. At present, neither the cost per chip
or commercial provider of the technology has been finalized. To help
define both of these, the consortium is now seeking to quantify the
likely demand for the technology. Please write to either Mohammad
Koohmaraie (Mohammad.Koohmaraie@ARS.USDA.GOV), Max Rothschild
(mfrothsc@iastate.edu) or Larry Schook (schook@uiuc.edu) if you consider
your research program / Institution would consider purchasing and using
the 50K pig SNP chip, along with likely numbers required initially and
per year so that we can include you in the mailing list concerning chip
creation and supply. Our aim is to achieve the maximum economy of scale
across the pig genomic community and in turn the lowest unit cost per
chip. Please don't hesitate to write for additional information.
The NRSP-8 renewal application is mid stream now. The NRSP-8 writing
team, coordinated by Mary Delany and existing coordinators or their
representatives. Be sure to fill out your appendix E to state your
participation and please get your director's support for this very
important project.
USDA-NRI Grant RFA for FY 2008 is now available at
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/ or
http://www.grants.gov. Program 43.0, Animal
Genome, contains five elements: Translational Animal Genomics, Tools and
Resources, Bioinformatics, Functional Genomics and Whole Genome Enabled
Animal Selection. The deadline for the first four elements is June 5,
2008. However, integrated proposals only for Translational Animal
Genomics and all proposals for Functional Genomics require submission of
a letter of intent by March 14, 2008. The deadline for Whole Animal
Genome Enabled Selection is Feb. 14, 2008, and this section required a
letter of intent by November 26, 2007 (only one award is likely to be
made in this element). Please see the RFA for deadlines for other
animal-related programs. Letters of intent are required for some
programs/elements to insure that proposal aims meet the goals of the
program and to minimize wasted effort in the application process.
The USDA's Blueprint for Animal Genomics, a product of several months of
effort of a USDA Animal Genomics Task Force commissioned by
Undersecretary Joseph Jen in 2006, is now available at
(http://www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/news/2007news/blueprint.html). The
Blueprint outlines needs and goals in the areas of "Science to
Practice", "Discovery Science" and "Infrastructure". The goals of this
Blueprint are closely aligned with the priorities of the NRSP-8 renewal
application.
The pig oligo arrays can be ordered. Swine oligo arrays can now be
ordered (http://www.pigoligoarray.org/). A validation experiment,
funded in part by the participants and the USDA Pig Genome Coordinator,
is taking place and will be reported on at PAG 2008.
Upcoming meetings (see:
(http://www.animalgenome.org/pigs/community/meetings.html))
Items for Pig Genome Update 89 can be sent to me by no later than February 15 please. A special thanks to friends and colleagues for your help and support. Please take some time off to enjoy the holidays!!
Max Rothschild
U.S. Pig Genome Coordinator
2255 Kildee Hall, Department of Animal Science
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011
Phone: 515-294-6202, Fax: 515-294-2401
mfrothsc@iastate.edu
http://www.animalgenome.org/pigs/
cc: Muquarrab Qureshi, CSREES and Caird Rexroad II, ARS
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