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Pig Genome Newsletter #003
PIG GENOME UPDATE No. 3
November 1, 1993
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Technical Committee Members for the NAGRP should remember the meetings in Salt
Lake City on November 17-19. The technical committee members for all species
for NAGRP will meet together. That will be followed by the NC-210 "Mapping the
Pig Genome" meeting. One written progress report per station should be
assembled and 30 copies should be brought to the meeting. We are looking
forward to good discussion of progress, especially on areas of cooperation and
collaboration.
Microsatellite Distribution: We are now ready to distribute the first 25 pairs
of microsatellites. These are on 14 chromosomes and there are more than one
marker on 8 of the chromosomes. All of the microsatellites are published. For
further information or to request them, contact me by phone or by E-mail at
A3.MFR@ISUMVS.BITNET or in Salt Lake City.
Industry Support continues to be excellent for the microsatellite project. The
National Association of Swine Records (Berkshire, Chester White, Duroc,
Hampshire, Landrace, Poland China, Spotted and Landrace) have donated $2,000.
This is the 8th group to participate. We appreciate their support.
Human Genetics Symposium in Boston on October 2-4 provided an excellent update
on the progress of the mapping efforts for the Human Genome Project. The
keynote addresses by Francis Collins and David Botstein emphasized the need to
look beyond the initial map towards the biology of the genes themselves. In
addition, there was considerable discussion given towards the need to use
sequencing to look for the reasons for genetic differences. There was an
excellent paper in the cancer section of the symposium by Mary Clair King on
"Genetic analysis of breast cancer" and others on the genetics of tumors. In
the section on "Silencing of Genes" there were presentations on X-inactivation
(Mary Lyon), parental imprinting (Shirley Tilghman), methylated DNA (Adrian
Bird) and phenotypic switching (Dan Gottschling). Eric Lander chaired the
session on complex traits. This section included papers on Type I diabetes
(John Todd) and human vision (Jeremy Nathans). The most interesting papers were
on obesity (Jeff Freidman) and the molecular biology of prion diseases (Charles
Weissmann). The final session had papers on "Functional organization of the
genome and nucleus" (Jeanne Lawrence), a novel method to identify new genes
(Michael Wigler), an "Update on C. elegans" (Robert Waterson) and "Analysis of
DNA sequences in single cells" (Norm Arnheim). The C. elegans genome project is
moving along nicely and is a good example of the cooperation needed to be
really successful. If you are interested in any of these talks and need the
names and addresses of the speakers, please contact me.
Eric Lander and the Whitehead Institution were kind enough to host me after the
conference. I presented a seminar on the swine genome project and discussed the
structure of the NAGRP, activities in all the labs and individuals involved,
and the progress both in the U.S. and in the world. Eric's group had some
interesting insights and ideas. His group is now producing microsatellites in
the mouse and hopes to have 6,000 available to all researchers by next year.
The first 3,000 should be available by the year's end. This is a fine example
of cooperation.
Other Conferences: Several conferences involving gene identification and gene
mapping are coming up. For details about a comparative gene mapping conference
in Norway in February, please contact Harris Lewin by E-mail at
Blood@uiucvmd.bitnet. On May 4, in St. Louis, just before Poultry Breeders
Roundtable (May 5-6), Iowa State University's Animal Breeding and Genetics
group in the Department of Animal Science will co-host a conference with
NCR-150 on "Future genetics for the Animal Industry" for industry and
university personnel. This conference will cover gene mapping and QTL research
and will be directed towards developing more interactions with industry. More
details will follow later.
ANGENMAP, the E-Mail discussion group, is up and going. While discussion was
light at first it has picked up. Now over 130 people have signed up from all
over the world. If you have a question, comment, or just want to see what
people think, you need only to direct your inquiry to ANGENMAP@IASTATE.EDU and
the rest of the people will see it. You can enroll by sending your E-Mail
address (and name, please!) to the same address.
Grant Deadlines: Grant deadlines have been announced recently. In the National
Research Initiative, relative to this group's interests, they are: Dec. 13 -
Enhancing Reproductive Efficiency; Jan. 18 - Sustaining Animal Health and Well
Being; March 6 - Improving Animal Growth and Development and March 6 -
Identifying Genetic Mechanisms and Gene Mapping. Research career enhancement
awards, equipment grants and seed grants are all due Feb. 22. National Pork
Producers Council and state pork producer grants are due on December 1st. For
further information on the NPPC grants, please call Dr. David Meeker or Mr. Rod
Goodwin, NPPC, 515-223-2600.
PIGBASE Access: Have you tried to use it but your application to Alan Archibald
has yet to be processed? If so, please contact me so I can help. Details on the
improvements in our database will be presented at the meeting in Salt Lake
City.
Human Genome News: If you are interested in getting this information, please
write HGMIS, Mailing Address, Betty K. Mansfield, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6050.
Chinese Pig Agreement: I am still trying to move the other parties. There may
be hope for a solution. I will keep you all posted. If you want to help, send
me a note and we can discuss strategy.
PiGMaP DNA: Permits to import DNA from the U.K., French and Swedish families
(approximately 80 F2 individuals) have been obtained. Transfer permits to allow
sending DNA to your labs must be requested. If you are interested, please
contact me.
Max F. Rothschild
Swine Genome Coordinator
225 Kildee Hall
Department of Animal Science
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011
Phone: 515-294-6202 or 3629
Fax: 515-294-2401
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