Gene editing short -tailed fine hair sheep's new species is the first successful quality

The research team of Professor Li Menghua of China Agricultural University and the Xinjiang Academy of Animal Husbandry Sciences is doing experimental analysis.

Tianshan News (Reporter Ma Yiyu Photography Report) The reporter learned from the Xinjiang Academy of Animal Husbandry Sciences that the research on the creation of new types of sheep's new species of sheep in cooperation with China Agricultural University and Xinjiang Institute of Animal Husbandry Science The quality of the first was successful.

It is understood that after 5 years of experimental research, the research team explored the chromosomal evolution mechanism of wild and domestic sheep. Through genetic association analysis, a number of important functional genes and mutations related to important phenotypes, such as weight, body height, bust, hip, and tail length are found. These genes and mutations provides new candidate genes for the innovation of sheep species, especially the TBXT gene mutations that affect the length of the sheep and the tail vertebrae, which provides precious genetic resources for the cultivation of short -tailed cotton sheep.

Professor Li Menghua of the School of Animal Science and Technology of China Agricultural University said that although the variety of sheep in my country is rich, its main production properties such as meat, hair, milk, etc. are low. Good meat and milk breeding sheep still need to be imported, which restricts the sheep industry in my country. The development and the revitalization of the seed industry. Therefore, the genetic foundation of the changes in these phenotypes will be revealed, and the new genes related to the relevant new genes will provide rich genetic resources for the quality innovation and new varieties of sheep species.

The short -tailed fine -tailed sheep (left) edited by the gene is compared with the long -tailed fine sheep (right) that has not been genetically edited.

According to Liu Mingjun, director of the Institute of Biotechnology of the Xinjiang Academy of Animal Husbandry Sciences, the tail length is one of the significant characteristics of the breed of sheep. Therefore, the long -tailed sheep must be broken during the lamb stage, which not only consumes manpower and material resources, but also causes trauma to cause fly maggots infection, leading to blocking or even death. Therefore, cultivating excellent short -tailed sheep varieties that do not require broken tails are one of the goals of the world sheep breeding.

On the one hand, the research team uses the newly discovered TBXT gene mutation to carry out short -tail selection of grassland meat sheep breeding core groups currently carried out in Yili Prefecture, Xinjiang, significantly reduced the length of the tail, and establishes molecular selection techniques and for the cultivation of short -tailed meat sheep. Breeding core groups; on the other hand, using gene editing this cutting -edge biochemical technology to edit TBXT gene editing for fine hair sheep, obtain gene editing short -tailed fine hair sheep, and formed the genetic editing short -tailed fine hair breeding resource group, for the expansion of the genetic editing, for the establishment of the genetic editing short -tailed sheep breeding resource group. Cultivation of short -tailed fine hair sheep created precious germplasm resources.

It is reported that the study was published online in the internationally renowned academic journal "Genome Research" (genome research) online.

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