The research team led by Lixin DU from Institute of Animal Science of CAAS has done whole genome methylations equencing on sheep and gained many methylated regions and two cpgdnamethylated sites which are relative to the size of sheep. This study in theworld is still belongs to the first. The research result has been published on Scientific Reports.

The size of sheep includes height,weight and physique which is a complex trait decided jointly by the environment and gene. There are significant differences among the size of Mongolia sheep subgroup. So to find the genes which decides the size of Mongolia sheep subgroup is a major task for researchers.

The researchers devoted themselves to the study of sheep genomics and transcriptomics. They have identified 399 different methylated regions through studying three kind of Mongolia sheep subgroups in different size using whole genome methylation sequencing technology and data analysis method. By bioinformatics analysis, they have foundgene ltbp1, smad1, tsc1 and akt1 which would affect the size traits of sheep.The result indicates that DNA methylation would play an important role indeciding the size difference of sheep. This research has firstly constructedthe whole genome methylation map of Mongolia sheep. It will promote the development of sheep molecular breeding in the future.

Time: 2015.12.10

Source: China Science Daily