Pig Genome Update No. 48

angenmap@db.genome.iastate.edu
May 1, 2001

  1. A new set of primers for 41 microsatellite markers are now available
  2. Rewrite of NC210 and NC220 regional research projects is underway
  3. ARKdb has moved to a new URL
  4. Midwestern Meetings for ADSA and ASAS
  5. Pig genome in Oscar winning movie
  6. Upcoming meetings

A new set of primers for 41 microsatellite markers are now available. These were produced by Research Genetics and are in 5000 pmoles amounts. There are now 10 sets of primers that have been made available through the USDA/CSREES Pig Genome Coordination Program. A total of 509 microsatellite markers have been included. More information on all sets of primers can be found at the web site: http://www.genome.iastate.edu/resources/fprimerintr.html . A Java graphic view of the microsatellite markers has been created. This graphic viewer of primer sets draws markers on each chromosome according to their relative location: http://www.genome.iastate.edu/resources/PrimerOnChr.html . The new primers are available and are free of charge. If you would like to request a new set, please fill the web primer request form: http://www.genome.iastate.edu/resources/primer_request.html . We will respond to you as soon as possible. In addition, there are a limited number of bags of the previous sets of primers (sets VII, VIII and IX) available. For additional questions please contact me (mfrothsc@iastate.edu) or Dr. Yuandan Zhang (ydzhang@iastate.edu).

GO TO TOP


Rewrite of NC210 and NC220 regional research projects is underway. A writing committee consisting of Ron Bates (Michigan State University), Daniel Pomp (University of Nebraska), Max Rothschild (Iowa State University), Rodger Johnson (University of Nebraska) and Jack Dekkers (Iowa State University and committee chair), is in the process of preparing a draft of a new combined project for NC210/220. The committee's aim is to have a complete draft ready for discussion at the annual meeting of the NC210/220 projects June 14/15 in Lincoln (NE) and is looking for input from potential participants in the new project. The following project title and objectives have been proposed: Genetic and genomic approaches to improve food production, safety and quality in the pig. The suggested objectives are: 1) To use quantitative genetics and genomics to improve pre-harvest food production efficiency, safety, and quality. Emphasis would be on disease resistance, body composition, and on reproduction and production efficiency. 2) To use quantitative genetics and genomics to improve post-harvest pork safety and quality. Emphasis would be on meat quality and product safety. The committee is looking for expressions of interest of potential participants in this new project. Specifically, we are looking for the following input. These should include: 1) Names of faculty that would be interested to participate in this project and 2) Specifics on what your station could contribute to this project (e.g. genetic/animal resources, molecular genetic resources, knowledge, specific research areas) and on how research opportunities at your station would be enhanced by collaboration from other stations. Please email Jack Dekkers (jdekkers@iastate.edu) as soon as possible.

GO TO TOP


ARKdb has moved to a new URL. The Roslin Institute Bioinformatics (http://bioinformatics.roslin.ac.uk ) Group are pleased to announce that the ARKdb database system has moved to a new, easy-to-remember domain. The main site can now be found at http://www.thearkdb.org . The Roslin site is also accessible as http://roslin.thearkdb.org , while the mirror sites at Texas A&M and Iowa State can be accessed as http://texas.thearkdb.org and http://iowa.thearkdb.org . The full set of ArkDB genome databases covering pigs, chickens, sheep, cattle, horses, deer, cats, tilapia, salmonids and turkey can be found on the Roslin site. The Iowa mirror site carries chicken and pig databases and the Texas mirror site houses cattle, horses and sheep. There are bound to be some problems in the system that may have been missed. Please let them know about problems, no matter how trivial they seem. You can now contact them with ARKdb-related issues at mailto:info@thearkdb.org or mailto:feedback@thearkdb.org. If you need to cite data held within the ARKdb databases, please cite ARKdb-<species name> genome database, with URL http://www.thearkdb.org and refer to the published paper Hu et al., (2001). Nucleic Acids Research 29(1), 106-110 also noting the date on which the data was retrieved or accessed (kindly provided by Andy Law).

GO TO TOP


The Midwestern Sections of the American Dairy Science Association and the American Society of Animal Science met jointly in Des Moines on March 19-21 for their annual meeting. The program had 38 papers in the Breeding and Genetics section of which 17 were pig related. Several good papers covered new techniques and mapping. Abstracts can be viewed at http://www.asas.org/midwest/2001/midwest.pdf . Congratulations go to Dr. Chris Tuggle who received the Outstanding Researcher Award.

GO TO TOP


Pig genome mentioned in Oscar Winning movie!! For those of you who haven't seen a movie in a while you will have missed the mentioning of pig gene mapping in the Oscar winning film Traffic.

GO TO TOP


Upcoming meetings (for more details see: http://www.genome.iastate.edu/community/meetings.html )

The Sixth International Conference on Pig Reproduction, June 3-6, 2001 at the University of Missouri-Columbia. For information please contact Dr. Randall S. Prather at PratherR@Missouri.edu .

The Sixth International Veterinary Immunology Symposium, July 15-20, 2001 at Uppsala, Sweden. For information please contact: ivis@slu.se .

12th North American Colloquium on Animal Cytogenetics and Gene Mapping, July 15-19, 2001 at the University of California, Davis CA. For information please contact: animalcyto@vgl.ucdavis.edu or http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/research/cytoconf/ .

International Animal Agriculture and Food Science Conference July 24-28, 2001, Indianapolis, Indiana. This is the Joint Annual Meeting of the American Dairy Science Association, American Society of Animal Science, Poultry Science Association, Reciprocal Meat Conference of the American Meat Science. For information please contact Federation of Animal Science Societies at fass01@assochq.org .

The 14th Conference of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics, July 30 - August 2, 2001, Queenstown, New Zealand. For information please contact Dr.Ken Dodds at doddsk@agresearch.cri.nz .

Plant and Animal Genome X Januay 12-16, 2002 at the Town and Country Convention Center, San Diego, CA. For information please contact D. Sherago, Sherago International at darrins@scherago.com .

Additional items can be found at: http://www.agbiotechnet.com/calendar/index.asp .

GO TO TOP

Contributions to Pig Genome Update 49, including short meeting announcements, are always welcome. Please send by June 10.
                    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

cc: Dick Frahm, CSREES and Roger Gerrits, ARS

U.S. PIG GENOME COORDINATION PROJECT
Paid for by funds from the NRSP-8
USDA/CSREES sponsored
Pig Genome Coordination Program
http://www.genome.iastate.edu/
Mailing list: angenmap@db.genome.iastate.edu


© US Pig Genome Coordination Program