Recent advances in the genomic resources for sheep

Abstract

Sheep (Ovis aries) provide a vital source of protein and fibre to human populations. In coming decades, as the pressures associated with rapidly changing climates increase, breeding sheep sustainably as well as producing enough protein to feed a growing human population will pose a considerable challenge for sheep production across the globe. High quality reference genomes and other genomic resources can help to meet these challenges by: (1) informing breeding programmes by adding a priori information about the genome, (2) providing tools such as pangenomes for characterising and conserving global genetic diversity, and (3) improving our understanding of fundamental biology using the power of genomic information to link cell, tissue and whole animal scale knowledge. In this review we describe recent advances in the genomic resources available for sheep, discuss how these might help to meet future challenges for sheep production, and provide some insight into what the future might hold.

Single-Cell Sequencing Technology in Ruminant Livestock: Challenges and Opportunities

“…Many analysis tools built for model organisms are expanding to become speciesagnostic, which provides substantial opportunities for livestock researchers to utilize these with annotation from their own genomes. The quality and utility of ruminant livestock genomes and annotation are advancing rapidly driven by community efforts, including pangenome construction [47][48][49][50], complete telomere-to-telomere assemblies [84], and sophisticated annotation pipelines and resources [85]. These efforts will enhance the ability to precisely differentiate cell clusters based on gene expression, providing even greater insights into cellular heterogeneity and gene expression patterns within tissues important for the understanding of economically important traits in ruminant livestock.…”

“…Further limitations of single-cell sequencing include the lack of spatial resolution of cells within a tissue structure and the cost of library preparation [44][45][46]. However, ongoing efforts to improve sequencing protocols, genomic tools and resources, and computational pipelines in livestock are poised to overcome these barriers and pave the way for further use of single-cell sequencing technology in agriculturally important species [47][48][49][50]. This review aims to highlight the findings of published sc/snRNA-seq and sc/snATAC-seq studies in cattle, sheep, and goats that have publicly available data and discuss their impact on the field's understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms governing important traits within ruminant livestock.…”

The Detection of a Functional 168 bp Deletion of the HOXB13 Gene Determining Short Tail and Its Association with Senior Growth Traits in Sheep Breeds Worldwide

“…However, this potential relationship remains unclear and warrants further investigation to elucidate it. Owing to various limitations, there are challenges in sheep breeding, and the economic benefits of the sheep industry require refinement [5][6][7]. Therefore, strengthening breeding and improving tail length traits and growth traits by selecting sheep breeds with excellent traits can effectively promote the development of the industry.…”