Pig Genome Update No. 27
angenmap@iastate.edu
November 1, 1997
Happy Trails. Over the past two months the U.S. Pig Genome Coordinator has made a couple of trips and visited with several pig and other genome scientists as well as industry people. Recent successes in both mapping and major gene detection and the possibility of the NRSP8 being renewed has created considerable optimism. One trip was to the USDA-ARS MARC in Clay Center, Nebraska. There were excellent discussions on various research topics and the hospitality was much appreciated. Some excellent resources are available from MARC scientists to the gene mapping community (see below). If you have resources to share please let others know so that we can all work together.More reference DNA is available. It is possible that not everyone knows the DNA samples from the MARC reference population are available to scientists who wish to map markers in the porcine genome. DNA from the USDA original population of 10 parents producing eight litters (94 progeny total; Rohrer et al. 1994, Genetics 136:231-245) can be received by sending a request to Dr. Gary Rohrer, U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, PO Box 166, Clay Center, NE 68933-0166. A litter of eight (produced from a Duroc-White Composite female) has been removed so that the DNAs from the remaining litters will fit into a 96-well microtiter plate format. Genotypic data derived from this population must be entered into the MARC Genome database. Amount of technical support for linkage analysis will be arranged on an investigator by investigator basis. In a request for DNA, please indicate the number of markers expected to be mapped in a given time period, the amount of DNA used in a typical PCR reaction and whether tubes or a microtiter plate (set up for multichannel pipettor loading) of DNA is preferred. International requests may be subject to laws pertaining to export/import of animal materials. When requests exceed availability of materials, prioritizing may be required based on mutual scientific interest and benefit. (information kindly provided by Gary Rohrer)
The MARC YAC libraries are also available for use by researchers worldwide, as stated in the original manuscripts describing the libraries. A number of laboratories in the U.S. and abroad are currently making use of this resource. The DNA pools can be received by sending a written request to Dr. Tim Smith, U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, PO Box 166, Clay Center, NE 68933-0166. International requests may be subject to U.S. trade laws. Researchers are reminded that patent claims resulting from use of the YACs may be affected by the fact that the YACs are U.S. government property. Initially, Dr. Smith will send requesting parties the super pools only (15 bovine, 23 porcine) for screening and then send appropriate secondary pools as they are identified. In return for access to the library, screening data derived from the pools, including primer sequences used, must be provided for the MARC YAC database. This information will be in strict confidence until such time as the data owner notifies Dr. Smith of release. Amount of support for screening, use, and handling of the libraries will be arranged on an investigator by investigator basis. Potential users of the library are advised to have patience since sharing of YACs is subject to time constraints at the USDA end and because there are 350 DNA pools for each library requiring substantial time for Dr. Smith to label and aliquot. In addition, production of the DNA pools is a relatively massive endeavor and if the number of requests becomes large, they will be prioritized according to mutual scientific interest and benefit. (information kindly provided by Tim Smith)
Many thanks and best wishes to Dr. Lizhen Wang. Lizhen has served as our database manager and assistant to the Pig Genome Coordinator for nearly the past four years. She has helped to manage ANGENMAP, work with your questions and assist many of you in the pig genome mapping community. Dr. Wang will be taking on a new challenge as she goes to work for Babcock Swine in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She will be sorely missed. If you want to send her a note of thanks, her present e-mail is wangl@iastate.edu.
Our luck has continued and her duties will be taken over by Dr. Zhiliang Hu. Dr. Hu completed his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin and was a postdoctoral research associate at both USDA-ARS MARC in Clay Center, NE and at Iowa State University, Ames. We look forward to his help and input. He can be reached at zlhu@iastate.edu.
Now is the time to make your hotel reservations and travel plans for PAGVI meeting in San Diego. The Plant and Animal Genome VI will be January 18-22, 1998 and again will be in San Diego. Some excellent workshops have been organized. Hotel accommodations for PAG-VI next January will be limited by the Super Bowl following us into San Diego on the weekend after the meeting. Those who wish to attend PAGVI will need to get their application forms in promptly. If you missed PAGV, you can find the abstracts and other information at: http://probe.nalusda.gov:8000/otherdocs/pg/pg5/allabstracts.html.
The Neal A. Jorgensen Travel Award will be presented to one graduate student (not postdoc) from a U.S. laboratory to present a pig gene mapping poster at the PAGVI meeting. The award is for $300 plus registration. To apply, please send a cover letter and a copy of your abstract to the U.S. Pig Genome Coordinator (fax: 515-294-2401) by November 5, 1997. A committee will select the winner.
The third set of fluorescently labeled primers for pig microsatellites is now ready for distribution. This third set is composed of 53 pairs of fluorescent primers and brings the total number of fluorescent primer pairs distributed by the U.S. Pig Genome Coordinator to 149 pairs (for more details see last newsletter). In addition, a differential display primer set consisting of 10 oligo-dT anchor antisense primers with different 2-base extensions on the 3' end, and 20 arbitrary 10-mer sense primers (5'), yielding a total of 200 primer combinations for screening cDNA populations. To request either set of primers, please contact the U.S. Pig Genome Coordinator at mfrothsc@iastate.edu. Funds for these materials are provided by the USDA-CSREES Pig Genome Coordination Project. Suggestions to produce additional primer pairs are still welcome.
It is not too late to plan to go to Armidale. The 6TH World Congress on Quantitative Genetics Applied to Livestock Production meets January 10-16 in Armidale, Australia. Gene mapping and QTL sessions are planned.
It is early but plans for the 1998 ISAG conference are underway and are included in the ISAG (International Society for Animal Genetics) web site ( http://www.wisc.edu/animalsci/isag/index.html). The 1998 conference will take place from August 9-14, 1998 in Auckland, New Zealand.
Need some help to travel this next year? As in the past, some limited assistance may be available for active U.S. pig genome members to travel to the ISAG meeting in New Zealand. If you hope to go and need some assistance, please contact the U.S. Pig Genome Coordinator soon.
Upcoming meetings:
6th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia, January 12-16, 1998. Contact: Dr. Laurie Piper at 61 67 73-3609, Fax: 61 67 73-3611, email: 6wcgalp@mendel.une.edu.au.
National Swine Improvement Federation Meeting, Des Moines IA, Dec 5-6 for details contact Chuck Christians at 612-624-0766.
PAGVI, January 18-22, San Diego CA.
XXVI International Conference on Animal Genetics is August 9-14, 1998 in Auckland, New Zealand. Chairman of organizing committee is Ian Anderson (ebtu@manawatu.gen.nz).
Contributions to Pig Genome Update 28, including short meeting announcements, are always welcome. Please send by December 10.
Max Rothschild U.S. Pig Genome Coordinator 225 Kildee Hall, Department of Animal Science Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 50011 Phone: 515-294-6202, Fax: 515-294-2401 mfrothsc@iastate.educc: Dick Frahm, CSREES and Roger Gerrits, ARS
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