www.czu.cz ; www.raupp.info

The first draft of the bovine genome sequence is now freely available to
biomedical and agricultural researchers around the world , October 2004

CSIRO Livestock Industries is a partner in the U.S. $53 million dollar
international effort to sequence the genome of the cow (Bos taurus).

"CSIRO has invested in the research to increase understanding and
utilisation of the bovine genome which is a major focus for our livestock
portfolio development both now and into the future," CSIRO Livestock
Industries' Chief, Shaun Coffey, says.

"The bovine genome physical map and sequence will assist scientists to
develop tools to advance selection of desirable production traits, identify
genes involved in pest and disease resistance and enable better matching of
products to market specifications."

The bovine genome is similar in size to the genomes of humans and other
mammals, containing approximately three billion DNA base pairs.

The sequencing of the bovine genome will also help medical researchers learn
more about the human genome and thereby develop better ways of treating and
preventing disease.

Researchers are currently comparing the draft version of the bovine genome
sequence with those of the human and other organisms that have already been
sequenced. The results of these analyses will be published on public
databases in the next several months.

Sequencing and assembly of the bovine genome began in December 2003, led by
Richard Gibbs and George Weinstock at the Baylor College of Medicine's Human
Genome Sequencing Center in Houston, Texas.

The Hereford, a cattle breed well known for its beef production capabilities
was selected for the bulk of the sequencing project. Holstein, Angus,
Jersey, Limousin, Norwegian Red and Brahman cattle breeds will be also
sequenced at a 'lighter' coverage.

The Bovine Genome Sequencing Project, due for completion in 2005, will allow
detailed tracking of the DNA differences between these breeds to assist
discovery of traits for better meat and milk production and to model human
disease.

The initial assembly is based on 3.3-fold coverage of the bovine genome and
by 2005, a 6-fold sequence coverage will be achieved. Researchers can access
the sequence data through the following public databases: GenBank
www.ncbi.nih.gov/Genbank at NIH's National Center for Biotechnology
Information (NCBI); EMBL Bank www.ebi.ac.uk/embl/index.html at the European
Molecular Biology Laboratory's Nucleotide Sequence Database; and the DNA
Data Bank of Japan www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp The data can also be viewed through
NCBI's Map Viewer www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mapview/, UCSC Genome Browser
www.genome.ucsc.edu/ at the University of California at Santa Cruz and the
Ensembl Genome Browser www.ensembl.org at the Wellcome Trust Sanger
Institute in Cambridge, England.

The other partners in the Bovine Genome Sequencing Project are: the National
Human Genome Research Institute; the US Department of Agriculture; the State
of Texas; Genome Canada; and, New Zealand's Agritech Investments Ltd, Dairy
Insight Inc and AgResearch Ltd.

[www.csiro.au]
ase

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