Tulsa World: Genome may pave way to better cattle

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Genome may pave way to better cattle

A Hereford cow, named L1 Dominette 01449, grazes with her calf near Miles City, Mont. Bovine genome research started with that cow. Associated Press

By MARILYN CHASE Bloomberg News
Published: 4/26/2009 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 4/26/2009 4:28 AM

The genetic blueprint of domestic cows has been decoded in a scientific feat that traces bovine evolution and may lead to more nutritious milk, meat and increased food supply, scientists reported.

A six-year effort by more than 300 researchers sequenced and analyzed the 22,000 genes of the bovine genetic code, which includes cell instructions for making milk and muscles, according to the research published online last week in the journal Science. The genetic data also reveal how the cow's four- chambered stomach digests and transforms grass forage into body tissues that make high-quality beef.

Understanding the biology and evolution of cows could lead to a revolution in cattle breeding by the beef and dairy industries. The key traits could be used to meet the rising global need for affordable, sustainable nutrition, said the study's authors of two reports in the journal.

"It's a huge and significant advancement to have whole genome information of important traits in cattle," said Ronnie Green, senior director for global technical services of Pfizer Animal Genetics, a unit of New York-based Pfizer Inc.'s Animal Health unit. Green participated in the research in a previous job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Among the key findings were special genes governing cattle reproduction, digestion, lactation and immune resistance to disease that "may provide an enabling tool for genetic improvement within the beef and dairy industries," wrote senior author Kim C. Worley of Baylor College of Medicine's Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, based in Houston.

The studies' findings may also lead to biomedical advances that include better animal models of human disease, said Harris Lewin, a co-author and researcher at the Institute for Genomic Biology and Department of Animal Sciences of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

"The barnyard door is now open," wrote Lewin.

"In a bull's market, everyone wins."

The National Cattleman's Beef Association deferred comment until officials at the trade group had a chance to read the research papers, said Meghan Pusey, a spokeswoman for the Centennial, Colo.-based association. Dairy Management Inc., a marketing and promotional organization in Rosemont, Ill., had no immediate comment, said Stacey Stevens, a public relations officer.

The USDA estimates total retail value of the U.S. beef industry was $73.6 billion in 2008, according to Kenneth Mathews, an agricultural economist at the agency. The retail value of the dairy industry's 2008 products was $110 billion, said Chris Galen, spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation in Arlington, Va.

The studies began with a single, red-and-white Hereford cow in Miles City, Mont., named L1 Dominette, whose DNA, or hereditary material, was compared with cows representing six other breeds. That information was used to develop probes, or tools to analyze distinct genetic variations of 497 cattle from 19 geographically and biologically diverse breeds. By MARILYN CHASE Bloomberg News

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