Just five months after publication of the mapping of the human genome, the world's leading horse geneticists are gathering in Queensland this week to advance the mapping of another major species.
The concerted international effort to map the equine genome specifically aims to improve the health of horses, according to a visiting horse geneticist to The University of Queensland.
"A $3 billion effort went into the human genome, but that kind of money isn't available for the equine genome," said Professor Ernest Bailey, a geneticist at the University of Kentucky's Gluck Equine Research Centre.
Professor Bailey is coordinator of the genome effort and said 120 scientists in 25 countries were working within modest budgets on the equine map.
"So we have to work smart to succeed," he said.
"With the strong tradition of genetics, it is ironic that the horse is among the last of the major domestic animal species to have a genetic map, despite the importance of the horse industry for sports, entertainment and recreation."
Professor Bailey and Dr Kevin Bell, director of The University of Queensland's Australian Equine Genetics Research Centre, are organising the fourth International Equine Gene Mapping Workshop, to be held this week at the Brisbane Marriott Hotel July 4 to 6.
The meeting is being conducted by the Dorothy Russell Havemeyer Foundation, New York with 45 participants.
Professor Bailey said the mapping of the human genome was one of the great moments in international science, allowing people to understand the biological basis of humanity.
Similarly, the horse project was an important scientific milestone. Already, families of genes were being developed to investigate equine muscle diseases, metabolic diseases, developmental bone diseases, cryptoorchidism, allergic diseases and performance.
Within the next few years, scientists would have a better understanding of such traits and possibly have genetic tests allowing them to anticipate problems and predict performance. A simple DNA test performed on a strand of hair plucked from a horse's mane might help breeders pinpoint genetic markers for exceptional performance.
"Our collaboration on a gene map for the horse began in 1995 in Lexington, Kentucky, when scientists agreed to a collaborative effort to construct a 300-marker linkage map," Professor Bailey said.
"When work began in 1995 less than 50 genetic markers were on the equine map and only several genes were mapped to chromosomes. Today, as a result of the effort, approximately 1000 genes are mapped to chromosomes.
"The University of Queensland's Australian Equine Genetics Research Centre has played an important role in this effort from the beginning, with Dr Bell leading investigations into some key technologies and his lab mapping many genes to chromosomes.
"Early on, the Brisbane laboratory produced DNA markers that serve as the backbone for gene mapping investigations in Europe, the United States and Asia.
"More recently the Brisbane laboratory took a lead in identifying and mapping horse genes expressed during early development. These genes may hold the key to solving musculoskeletal problems, respiratory diseases and provide new methods to attack infectious diseases."
Dr Bell's laboratory and its work in the equine mapping program has been funded by an Australian Research Council three year SPIRT grant, in collaboration with the Australian Stud Book.
Professor Bailey said researchers were aided in their work by a twist of evolution: large chunks of the human genetic code appeared with only minor changes on the horse genome. This allowed scientists to make generous use of the human genome to locate equine genes. Human chromosome 8, for example, was contained on horse chromosome 9.
"This means we don't need to do a complete gene sequence as horse organisation genes are similar to humans and 85 to 95 percent of the homologies of genes are very similar," he said. "However, they are different to some extent. For example humans have 46 chromosomes compared to 64 for the horse."
Professor Bailey said the horse gene map was far from finished. Compared to the gene maps of other livestock species, it was barely begun.
However, the completion of a 300-marker linkage map in the near future would provide a powerful tool for investigating hereditary aspects of important horse traits. Experience with the maps in cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens suggested that scientists should achieve a 1000-marker map to be most effective for genome scanning.
Keynote speakers at the workshop in Brisbane will include Dr Bill Barendse of CSIRO who will discuss the bovine gene map, and Dr Tom Broad of Invermay, New Zealand, sharing results from the equivalent ovine gene map.
Media: For further information, contact Dr Kevin Bell or Professor Ernest Bailey, telephone 3365 3647 or Jan King at UQ Communications 0413 601 248.
