DNA profiling in sheep
A.M. Crawford, F.C. Buchanan
MAF Technology Molecular Biology Unit, Department of
Biochemistry, University of Otago, Dunedin
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production.
1990, 50: 417-422
DNA profiles, or fingerprints as they are often called, provide
the basis for a powerful parentage test that has a number of
applications for the animal breeding industry. Two examples of its use
are presented here. During a breeding program where single sires were
being mated to groups of ewes, two groups became mixed, compromising the
experiment. Using DNA profiling results, each of the progeny could be
assigned to one of the two rams. The second example involves the
auditing of pedigrees which the Booroola gene is segregating. In
searching for a DNA marker that segregates with the Booroola gene it is
essential that flock records are accurate. In one pedigree a number of
individuals that were wrongly assigned as daughters of a heterozygous
Booroola sire were identified. In another pedigree all daughters were
correctly assigned.
Keywords: NZSAPAB;
DNA profiling; progeny test; minisatellite; sheep pedigree
analysis
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Last Updated 25-01-1997
