Committee Technical Sessions
Emerging Technologies
DNA-Pooling: Low-Cost Method to
Detect Genome Regions for Traits in Beef Cattle
BOZEMAN, Mont. (June 3, 2011) — With commercial availability of DNA tests for certain genetic traits, increasing numbers of cattle (and particularly seedstock) are being tested individually for markers that indicate whether animals possess genes associated with those traits. But it can get expensive, especially when collecting data on very large numbers of cattle for research projects. Addressing the Emerging Technology Committee during the 43rd annual Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) symposium, USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist Larry Kuehn said DNA pooling is a low-cost alternative to individual genotyping.
According to Kuehn, a geneticist at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) at Clay Center, Neb., DNA pools are created from samples representing the extremes of phenotypic distribution for a particular trait. Researchers then estimate allele frequencies between the extremes. The advantage of large pools is they reduce the influence of single animals.
Kuehn said DNA polling represents a way of optimizing data and reducing costs. A pooling experiment may be conducted at 1/38 the cost of an individual genotyping experiment. That’s a $70,000 to $80,000 cost for pooling, compared to upward of $2 million for individual genotyping.
“We think it is a powerful technique costing far less money,” stated Kuehn, noting how pooling projects at USMARC have been implemented to determine genetic influence on propensity to bloat, fertility and disease resistance.
To listen to this presentation and to view the PowerPoint that accompanied it, visit the Newsroom at www.BIFconference.com.
BIF’s 43rd Annual Research Symposium and Annual Meeting was hosted June 1-4 on campus at Montana State University, Bozeman, Mont.
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