The sheep genome illuminates biology of the rumen and lipid metabolism

Sheep (Ovis aries) are a major source of meat, milk, and fiber in the form of wool and represent a distinct class of animals that have a specialized digestive organ, the rumen, that carries out the initial digestion of plant material. We have developed and analyzed a high-quality reference sheep genome and transcriptomes from 40 different tissues. We identified highly expressed genes encoding keratin cross-linking proteins associated with rumen evolution. We also identified genes involved in lipid metabolism that had been amplified and/or had altered tissue expression patterns. This may be in response to changes in the barrier lipids of the skin, an interaction between lipid metabolism and wool synthesis, and…

• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture

  Award: 5348-32000-031-00D
• US
  Utah State University
• A
  AgResearch
• UO
  University of Otago
• AW
  Australian Wool Innovation
• WT
  Wellcome Trust

  Awards: WT095908, WT098051
• AG
  Australian Government
• DF
  Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK Government
• EC
  European Commission

  Award: 25,26
• CS
  Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
• MA
  Meat and Livestock Australia
• AN
  Agence Nationale de la Recherche
• CA
  Chinese Academy of Sciences

  Award: 2013CB835200
• IN
  Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
• SK
  State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution
• IM
  Inner Mongolia Agricultural University
• DF
  Directorate for Biological Sciences
• AR
  Agricultural Research Service
• BA
  Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

  Awards: BB/I025328/1, BBS/E/D/05191130, BB/I025506/1, BBS/E/D/20211550, BB/I025328/1, BB/I025506/1, BB/I025360/1, KBBE222664, BB/I025360/2
• IO
  Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
• KI
  Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences