Molecular genetics has become an essential tool to face the challenges of livestock of the 21st century. Improving production efficiency, increasing resistance to diseases, conserving genetic variability or promoting the adaptation of animals to an increasingly changing climate are objectives that can be addressed today through DNA analysis.
Since 2017, the Animal Molecular Genetics Laboratory of the Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón (CITA), coordinated by the Director of Research Jorge Hugo Calvo Lacosta, has been working closely with the breeders’ associations UPRA-Grupo Pastores (Rasa Aragonesa), AGROJI (Ojinegra de Teruel), AGROBI (Roya Bilbilitana), ANGORCA (Cartera) and ARAMA (Maellana), which They manage the herd books and genetic improvement programmes of these Aragonese sheep breeds.
In these years, the laboratory has carried out more than 25,000 genetic analyses using its own panel of SNPs (small variations of DNA), developed and validated by CITA in more than 20 Spanish sheep breeds. These analyses have been mainly used for the assignment and verification of parentage, essential information to ensure the reliability of herd books and increase the accuracy of genetic selection programs, although they also allow the characterization of functional genetic variants. Thanks to them, it is possible to identify with certainty the parents of each animal and select the breeding animals with the highest genetic value.
Beyond the assignment of kinships, SNP panels allow hundreds of variants present in the DNA of each animal to be studied simultaneously. These markers are a highly accurate tool for identifying genetic variants with functional effects on traits of economic and health interest.
Currently, these panels allow detecting variants related to reproductive traits in sheep such as the number of lambs born per calving or reproductive seasonality; to resistance to diseases, such as scrapie; and to hereditary diseases of interest for selection programs.
IDENTIFIED MARKERS
In addition, new markers identified in research projects developed by CITA, associated with carcass yield and quality, as well as variants related to the adaptation of animals to conditions arising from climate change, a line of work of growing interest to guarantee the future sustainability of extensive livestock farming.
One of the most relevant aspects of this work is that the panels used by the associations are the direct result of the research carried out at CITA. The knowledge generated in national and international projects is transformed into tools that can be immediately incorporated into breeding programmes, allowing more precise genetic selection, accelerating the genetic progress of populations and conserving their genetic diversity.
The information obtained through these analyses is integrated with the reproductive, genealogical and productive data managed by the breeders’ associations, facilitating decision-making on future breeding stock and contributing to improving the profitability of farms, the conservation of native breeds and the competitiveness of the Aragonese sheep sector.
The Animal Molecular Genetics Laboratory of the CITA is officially recognized by the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Food of the Government of Aragon and registered in the ARCA national registry of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as an authorized laboratory to carry out the genetic analyses contemplated in the official breeding programs of livestock breeds. in accordance with Royal Decree 45/2019.
