Project Number: 5364-31000-011-04
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jun 15, 2011
End Date: Jun 14, 2016

Objective:
1) Increase the resolution of the sheep linkage map. 2) Identify genomic region(s) associated with phenotype(s) relevant to sheep producers.

Approach:
Blood or tissue samples have been collected and stored for all sheep breeds at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station (USSES). DNA will be extracted from samples of a subset of related animals. Genotypes will be generated using the Ovine SNP50 BeadChip. Pedigree data will be analyzed with the genotypes to improve the ovine linkage map resolution. Generating Ovine SNP50 BeadChip genotypes will create the opportunity to perform genome-wide association studies. Thus, production-relevant sheep phenotype(s) will be evaluated with the genotypes to determine whether the phenotype(s) are statically associated with region(s) of the sheep genome.