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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #403177
Research Project: Accelerating Genetic Improvement of Ruminants Through Enhanced Genome Assembly, Annotation, and Selection

Location: Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory

Title: Taming transposable elements in livestock and poultry: a review of their roles and applications

Author
item ZHAO, PENGJU - Zhejiang University
item PENG, CHEN - Zhejiang University
item FANG, LINGZHAO - University Of Edinburgh
item WANG, ZHENGGUANG - Zheijiang University
item Liu, Ge - George

Submitted to: Genetic Selection Evolution
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/30/2023
Publication Date: 7/21/2023
Citation: Zhao, P., Peng, C., Fang, L., Wang, Z., Liu, G. 2023. Taming transposable elements in livestock and poultry: a review of their roles and applications. Genetic Selection Evolution. 55:50. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12711-023-00821-2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12711-023-00821-2

Interpretive Summary: Transposable elements (TEs) are one type of genetic variations, contributing to gene regulation, genetic diversity and complex traits. We reviewed the current status of TE studies in livstock and discuss their future directions. These results fill our knowledge gaps and provide the foundation for incorporating new knowledge into the future animal breeding program. Farmers, scientists, industry and policy planners who need improve animal health and production based on genome-enabled animal selection will benefit from this study.

Technical Abstract: Livestock and poultry contribute substantially to human survival and growth by converting agricultural by-products to high-quality proteins. Genetic improvement of livestock in a sustainable way to meet the global scale-up in demand for safe animal protein, whilst minimizing associated negative environmental impacts. Transposable elements (TEs) are major components of livestock and poultry genomes and contribute to their genetic diversity, chromatin states, gene regulatory networks, and complex traits of economic value. Compared to the genetics studies of TEs in other species, current research on TEs in livestock and poultry is still in its infancy. In this review, we examine the findings of 72 studies published over the past 20 years, summarize the TE composition in livestock and poultry genomes, and focus on the potential roles of TEs in the functional genomics of these species. We also highlight bioinformatic tools and strategies for integrating multi-omics data with TEs and discuss the future directions, feasibility, and challenges of TE research in livestock and poultry. Additionally, we discuss strategies to apply TEs in both basic biological research and animal breeding. We hope to provide a new perspective for a better understanding of the importance of TEs in livestock and poultry genomes.