Utilizing structural variants in DNA to improve sustainability of Norwegian livestock production

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

In pigs, the slow transition from wild to domesticated status has taken centuries. However in recent decades this has accelerated as specialized breeding companies began to provide farmers with sperm from a small number of superior individuals, whose value is reflected in their offspring in the form of growth rates, fertility, and docility etc. These traditional qualities are now being supplemented with subtle traits such as milk composition and disposition to inherited disorders, and companies are finding that analysis of DNA can be used to identify mutations associated with both desired and unwelcome traits, and enable the identification of superior boars when they are still very young. The most widely adopted analytical approach involves measuring thousands of tiny variations in DNA called single nucleotide polymorphisms: SNPs. The specific SNP fingerprint an animal has can predict its potential genetic value and allow breeding companies to build a catalogue of superior individuals. While SNPs are enormously useful, two significant issues affect their predictive power and accuracy. Firstly, information captured by these tiny variations cannot be used to measure large structural variations (SV’s), which can be extremely impactful on an animal’s biology. Secondly, the tools used to interpret SNPs fingerprints use DNA information from breeds developed in the US or UK, and overlooks characteristics unique to Norwegian breeds, weakening our analytical power. CAUSATIVE seeks to address these limitations by developing representations of the DNA in Norwegian pig breeds that capture SVs from multiple individuals. This data will improve accuracy and precision when calculating genetic value based on SNPs, allow breeders to incorporate knowledge about SV’s in their evaluations (something that has been completely overlooked before now) and understand more about the way an animal’s DNA code affects its biology and health.