3SR

Sustainable Solutions for Small Ruminants

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The 3SR project (Sustainable Solutions for Small Ruminants) brings together a strong and unique international consortium of 14 partners that will mine genomic information of sheep and goats to deliver a step-change in our understanding of the genetic basis of traits underlying sustainable production and health. To do this we will build on existing research resources in the major sheep and goat producing member states to discover and verify (in commercial populations) selectable genetic markers (and causative mutations where possible) for traits critical to sustainable farming, particularly in marginal areas. The targeted sustainability traits are mastitis susceptibility, nematode resistance and ovulation rate. These are traits that would markedly benefit from genetic markers, and traits for which we have evidence that polymorphisms exist with large effects on trait variation. We will apply the latest high-throughput genomics technologies, comparative and functional genomics; together with targeted genome sequencing and extensive in silico analyses to dissect important genetic components controlling these traits. Concurrently, we will deliver significant improvements in available genomic information and technologies for these species, thus having a lasting impact on European research capacity. Our work on genome resources will be undertaken in close collaboration with the International Sheep Genome Consortium and will make use of complementary resources provided by major research projects in Europe, Australasia, USA, Argentina and China. 3SR will provide selectable genetic markers that can be affordably applied by sheep and goat breeders to make important contributions to improving animal health, welfare, sustainability and the long-term competitiveness of small ruminant production in the EU. In addition 3SR will generate a collaborative infrastructure that will enable these ‘orphan species’ to keep pace with the rapid developments in livestock genomics.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

A large international consortium has improved sustainability traits in ruminants. The identification of genomic loci critical for valuable phenotypes such as high yield and disease-resistance will shape future breeding programmes.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Animal health and sustainability are vital for the long-term competitiveness of small ruminant production in the EU. Discovering the genetics behind traits critical to sustainable farming, particularly in marginal areas, will be beneficial for animal welfare and the ruminant industry.

The three-year EU-funded collaborative research project http://www.3srbreeding.eu (3SR) (Sustainable solutions for small ruminants) focussed on marker and mutation identification for three traits - mastitis susceptibility, resistance to nematodes and ovulation rate.

Project partners worked in close cooperation with the International Sheep Genomics Consortium (ISGC) and the International Goat Genome Consortium (IGGC) and collated a well-annotated sheep reference genome sequence (OARv3.1), a valuable genomic tool for underpinning further research. They also developed a 50K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip to detect quantitative trait loci for nematode resistance in goats for incorporation in novel breeding strategies.

State of the art genomic techniques including an open access genome browser helped produced genome-related data from around 7 500 animals, whole genome sequences for 50 sheep and over a terabyte of RNA sequence data. The data has identified causative mutations, candidate genes, SNPs and genetic markers for regions that affect the traits under investigation. Output includes levels of somatic cell count (an indicator for mastitis susceptibility), nematode resistance and ovulation rate. These important genomic regions will be mined with the aid of a bioinformatics pipeline, and the use of high-resolution comparative maps for both sheep and goats.

Dissemination included the http://www.3srbreeding.eu (project website), 12 articles in peer-reviewed journals, 66 presentations at 33 national and international conferences and four press articles.

To increase awareness of the research and facilitate its uptake and application across the ruminants industry, 3SR published a technical bulletin. Seventeen meetings in seven countries took place where project partners discussed the implications of 3SR results and achievements with farmers, advisors, breed associations, breeding companies and industry representatives.

Partners are optimistic that identified genetic markers could help deliver improved resistance to mastitis and nematode infections, a major cost saving for the EU sheep industry. Improved knowledge of ovulation rate is also expected to provide significant benefits in terms of improved productivity.