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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 #420268
Research Project: Accelerating Genetic Improvement of Ruminants Through Enhanced Genome Assembly, Annotation, and Selection

Location: Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory

Title: Genetic advancements and future directions in ruminant livestock breeding: from reference genomes to multiomics innovations

Author
item XU, SONGSONG - China Agricultural University
item AKHATAYEVA, ZHANERKE - Chinese Academy Of Agricultural Sciences
item LIU, JIAXIN - China Agricultural University
item FENG, XUEYAN - China Agricultural University
item YU, YI - China Agricultural University
item BADAOUI, BOUABID - Mohammed V University
item ESMAILIZADEH, ALI - University Of Kerman
item KANTANEN, JUHA - Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE)
item AMILLS, MARCELO - Autonomous University Of Barcelona
item LENSTRA, JOHANNES - Utrecht University
item JOHANSSON, ANNA - Swedish University Of Agricultural Sciences
item COLTMAN, DAVID - University Of Alberta
item Liu, Ge - George
item CURIK, INO - Collaborator
item OROZCO-TERWENGEL,, PABLO - Cardiff University
item PAIVA, SAMUEL - Embrapa Genetic Resources
item ZINOVIEVA, NATALIA - Collaborator
item ZHANG, LINWEI - Collaborator
item YANG, JI - China Agricultural University
item LIU, ZHIHONG - Inner Mongolian Agriculture University
item WANG, YACHUN - China Agricultural University
item YU, YING - China Agricultural University
item LI, MENGHUA - China Agricultural University

Submitted to: Science China Life Science
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/24/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Ruminant livestock, such as cows and sheep, are vital for food, milk, and wool production. We reviewed recent genetic research, which has deepened scientists' understanding of domestication and how genes influence key traits. Technological advancements, such as gap-free genome assembly, are paving the way for more precise breeding techniques to improve the quality and productivity of ruminant livestock. This review will be valuable for farmers, scientists, and policymakers focused on enhancing animal health and production through genome-enabled selection.

Technical Abstract: Ruminant livestock provide a rich source of products, such as meat, milk, and wool, and play a critical role in global food security and nutrition. Over the past few decades, genomic studies of ruminant livestock have provided valuable insights into their domestication and the genetic basis of economically important traits, facilitating the breeding of elite varieties. In this review, we summarize the main advancements for domestic ruminants in reference genome assemblies, population genomics, and the identification of functional genes or variants for phenotypic traits. These traits include meat and carcass quality, reproduction, milk production, feed efficiency, wool and cashmere yield, horn development, tail type, coat color, environmental adaptation, and disease resistance. Functional genomic research is entering a new era with the advancements of graphical pangenomics and telomere-to-telomere (T2T) gap-free genome assembly. These advancements promise to improve our understanding of domestication and the molecular mechanisms underlying economically important traits in ruminant livestock. Finally, we provide new perspectives and future directions for genomic research on ruminant genomes. We suggest how ever-increasing multiomics datasets will facilitate future studies and molecular breeding in livestock, including the potential to uncover novel genetic mechanisms underlying phenotypic traits, to enable more accurate genomic prediction models, and to accelerate genetic improvement programs.