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Hereford and Red Angus Heifers Recruited for Genomics Research

The University of Missouri is recruiting 2,500 Hereford heifers and 2,500 Red Angus heifers to participate in a heifer puberty and fertility genomic research project. Heifers should be registered Hereford, registered Red Angus, or commercial Hereford or Red Angus. Hereford x Red Angus crossbred heifers targeted for the Premium Red Baldy Program would also be a good fit for the research project. Producers must be willing to work with a trained veterinarian to collect the following data: ReproductiveTract Scores collected at a pre-breeding exam 30 to 45 days prior to the start of the breeding season. PelvicMeasurements (height and width) collected at the same pre-breeding exam 30 to 45 days prior to the start of the breeding season. Pregnancy Determination Using Ultrasound reporting fetal age in days. Ultrasound will need to occur no later than 90 days after the start of the breeding season. In addition, heifers must have known birth dates and have weights recorded eithe
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BIF 2016: Gene set enrichment analysis for feed efficiency in beef cattle

Holly Neibergs
Washington State University

Neibergs lead an effort to identify key genes within the network of genes that influence feed efficiency differences.

In this analysis they analyzed over 700,000 DNA variants in about 800 Hereford steers. For these Hereford steers they calculated the residual feed intake. Residual feed intake is how much the observed feed intake differs from the expected feed intake based on average daily gain and body weight. For over 19,000 genes, they identified the DNA marker within 8,000 base pairs of the gene that had the largest effect. These effects were assigned as the effect for that gene. They could then analyze networks of genes to look for gene networks that were significantly involved in feed efficiency differences.

Gene networks involved in cell division, including cytoskeleton organization, influenced differences in feed efficiency. There were also genes involved in the formation and regulation of peroxisomes found to influence feed efficiency. The peroxisome is involved with cellular transport and catabolism. they work on removing free radicals and maintaining lipid homeostatis.


FluorescentCells.jpg
By http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/images/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=655748
Components of cytoskeleton are labeled by red and green strains.


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Hereford and Red Angus Heifers Recruited for Genomics Research

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