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Dr. Jamie Courter is your Mizzou Beef Genetics Extension Specialist

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By Jared E. Decker Many of you have probably noticed that things have been a lot less active on the A Steak in Genomics™   blog, but you probably haven't known why. In January 2021, I was named the Wurdack Chair in Animal Genomics at Mizzou, and I now focus on research, with a little bit of teaching. I no longer have an extension appointment. But, with exciting news, the blog is about to become a lot more active! Jamie Courter began as the new MU Extension state beef genetics specialist in the Division of Animal Sciences on September 1, 2023. I have known Jamie for several years, meeting her at BIF when she was a Masters student. I have been impressed by Jamie in my interactions with her since that time.  Dr. Courter and I have been working closely together the last 6 weeks, and I am excited to work together to serve the beef industry for years to come! Jamie holds a bachelor’s degree in animal science from North Carolina State University and earned a master's degree in animal...
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Doctor Bovine Genome
or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Fix the Assembly

I know, this is a very strange title for a post.  More about that later...

USDA Fellowship

In this post I want to introduce you to part of my day-to-day research.  In August of this year, I was awarded a USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Fellowship.  I was awarded this fellowship for two reasons: to prepare to become a leader in agricultural science and to complete a specific project.  My project is reassembly of the bovine reference genome sequence.

Motivation: Why are we reassembling the bovine genome?

The completion of the draft human genome sequence was announced to much fanfare in 2000.  But, the work of finishing the human genome still continues.  Two versions of the bovine reference sequence, by the Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Maryland, were published in 2009.  At that time the bovine genomics community began discussing how to improve the draft assembly.  Key players suggested that more sequence data on L1 Dominette 01449, the cow on whom the reference sequence is based, would be the best step to improve the assembly.  Subsequently, this additional data was generated.
Hereford cow
L1 Dominette 01449, courtesy Michael MacNeil, USDA

My Experience

Scientists who work with draft genomes know to watch for errors in the reference.  As part of my Ph.D. training, I did a local assembly of a 400,000 base pair region to identify a DNA rearrangement which controls a phenotypic trait.  When I finished, the Baylor reference, Maryland reference, and my assembly had numerous disagreements about the sequence of this region.  I decided that if I was going to be successful in identifying variants which underlie phenotypic variation, I was going to need a better reference.

Volunteering  



Last winter, I wrote a USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Fellowship proposal in which I volunteered to take the existing data that was waiting to be analyzed and lead the reassembly of the bovine reference genome sequence.  Leaders in the bovine genomics community supported my application and agreed to share sequence data for the reassembly effort. Fortunately, Uncle Sam accepted my proposal and will be paying my salary for the next two years.


In Conclusion, Dr. Strangelove

The title of this post is inspired by one of my advisor's favorite movies. And just like a doomsday device, the value of a scientific project is lost if you don't tell the world! Check back here for more updates about the progress of the bovine genome reassembly.

*Finally, two disclaimers.  First, I don't consider myself "Doctor Bovine Genome", I simply needed a catchy title.  Second, I don't know of any similarities between myself and Dr. Strangelove.  If you know of any, feel free to leave them in the comments section.  Enjoy!

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