Pig Genome Update No. 117angenmap@animalgenome.orgJuly 1, 2013 |
Great news! The NRSP Review Committee has recommended for approval without any revisions the new NRSP8 project proposal and budget. The Experiment Station Directors who meet in September will have to approve it but this means we are likely to be approved for another 5 years. However, a new Swine Genome Coordinator is needed starting October 1. Max Rothschild has announced he plans to step down on September 30, 2013 after serving as the Swine Genome Coordinator for 20 years if a suitable person can be found. If you have interest and questions about the position please contact him.
MGI is pleased to announce a new implementation of comparative genome data. Previously MGI used a one-to-one orthology relationship between a mouse gene and that of another mammalian species. MGI now uses homology class data from HomoloGene and supports a "many-to-many" relationship between mouse genes and their vertebrate homologs. Chicken, zebrafish and rhesus macaque homologs are now included in this release as well as human, chimpanzee, dog, cattle and rat. Vertebrate Homology Class pages include: Gene symbols, Genetic locations, Links to EntrezGene & OMIM, Associated human diseases, Comparative GO Graphs, Sequences and HomoloGene multiple sequence alignments. For an example, see this complement component Vertebrate Homology Class page: http://www.informatics.jax.org/homology/36030. The mouse gene symbols link to gene detail pages which link to gene ontology, gene expression and allele details. For examples see http://www.informatics.jax.org/marker/MGI:95691 for the myostatin gene and http://www.informatics.jax.org/allele/allgenoviews/MGI:2148177 for a phenotype detail. Please send questions and comments to MGI User Support, mgi-help@jax.org.
On a sad note, Dr. Jan Rapacz, Professor Emeritus of Genetics at the
University of Wisconsin, passed away May 5th. 2013 in Krakow, Poland at
the age of 84. He received the B.S. degree in Animal Sciences (1953) and the
M.S. degree in Animal Physiology (1955) from the Faculty of Animal Sciences,
University of Jagiellonica, Krakow, Poland. He received the Ph.D. in
Immunogenetics in 1959 joint from the University of Jagiellonica, Krakow and
the Medical School, Zabrze-Rokitnica, Poland. His paper on the Heredity of
Rabbit Gamma Globulin iso-antigens (Acta Genetica et Statistica, Basel 1962)
set the stage for his research on genetic variations of antigens in blood
groups and other protein systems. Jan had many positions until he finally
went back to the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1970 as an Associate
Professor of Genetics, joint between the Department of Genetics and Department
of Meat & Animal Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He was promoted to
full Professor in 1978, and headed the Immunogenetics Program until his
retirement in 1998. His early research involved establishing blood groups in
rhesus monkey, fish, mink, cattle, horse, sheep, donkey, and pigs. One of his
greatest scientific achievements is the development of a world-unique swine
model with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) to facilitate experimental
research on atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. This animal model has
evolved over 20 years by breeding efforts that involved unique genotypes and
phenotypes derived from 37 breeds and/or groups of pigs. The FH swine show
very close resemblance to human advanced coronary heart disease regarding
composition, vascular location and progression to clinical events, including
heart attack and sudden death. The model is still used today by cardiologists
and investigators to study coronary events, testing of new drugs and stents
for angioplasty. He was a pioneer in a field that has rapidly evolved from
blood groups to markers to genomes and Jan made quite an impression on
everyone he met and worked with and so it was with me in 1974 when I began my
graduate career. Zhiliang Hu was his PhD student and he recalled his
"unbeatable passion and critical thinking, tireless reasoning on genetic
problems that were so enlightening on how to do science."
The swine genome coordinator is always glad to hear from NRSP-8 members and other readers about ways that the coordination effort can be improved or provide resources that are needed. If you have items of general interest to the swine genetics and genomics communities that can be included in this newsletter please share.
World Pork Expo was in early June and brought thousands of people to Des Moines. The WPE is usually considered a trade show but with all the genetics companies it represents an opportunity to meet the end users of much of the research we do. If you missed this event consider spending a summer day going to a state fair or other "pig show" to remind yourself about other aspects of the industry our research contributes to and enjoy some good pork barbecue!
Upcoming meetings (see: http://www.animalgenome.org/pigs/community/meetings)
- American Society of Animal Science (ASAS), Dairy Science (ADSA), and Canadian Society of Animal Sci. (CSA) Joint Annual Meeting will be in Indianapolis, IN from July 8 - 12, 2013. For details see http://www.jtmtg.org/2013/
- 64th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science will be held August 26 - 30, 2013 in Nantes, France. For details see http://www.eaap2013.org/
- Plant & Animal Genome Conference, PAG XXII, Jan. 11-15, 2014, Town & Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, CA. Information is available at http://www.intl-pag.org.
- PAG ASIA, May 19-21, 2014, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore. Details at www.intlpagasia.org
- International Society for Animal Genetics, July 27 - Aug. 1, 2014, Xi'an, China. See http://isag2014.com for more information.
- 10th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, August 17-22, 2014, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. See http://wcgalp.com
Items for Pig Genome Update 118 can be sent to me by no later than September 15 please.
Max Rothschild
U.S. Pig Genome Coordinator
2255 Kildee Hall,
Department of Animal Science
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011
Phone: 515-294-6202
Fax: 515-294-2401
mfrothsc@iastate.edu
http://www.animalgenome.org/pig/
| U.S. PIG GENOME COORDINATION PROJECT | ||
|
http://www.genome.iastate.edu/
angenmap@animalgenome.org | |
© US Pig Genome Coordination Program