Genome sequence for the domestic horse to be unveiled

The whole genome sequence of the domestic horse has been completed by the genome-sequencing center of The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in collaboration with an international team of researchers that includes scientists at the University of California, Davis.

Findings from the genome sequence have important implications for improved breeding of horses, which constitute a $39 billion industry in the United States alone, and for studies of human health. They will be reported in the Nov. 6 issue of the journal Science.

"This very high-quality genome sequence of the horse is important because it gives us access to specific sequence information that we can now apply to identify the genes for specific traits in the horse," said geneticist Cecilia Penedo of UC Davis' Veterinary Genetics Laboratory, a co-author on the paper.

As a collaborator in the international Horse Genome Project, Penedo contributed to the genome sequencing effort by supplying DNA from Arabian horses and quarter horses and by working on a horse linkage map, which identified genetic markers for various traits across the horse chromosomes.

Also collaborating on the project from UC Davis were James Murray, a professor of animal science who has worked with the Horse Genome Project since its inception in 1995, and Stephanie Pedroni, then a UC Davis staff researcher and genetics graduate student

"Having access to multiple genome sequences makes it easier to understand all genomes, including our own," Murray said. "By looking at the horse genome, we can better understand human biology and human diseases."

In reporting the horse genome sequence, the researchers noted that there are more than 90 hereditary conditions that affect both humans and horses. Because horses share these conditions, which include infertility, inflammatory diseases and muscle disorders, the horse is an important model for improving the understanding of human diseases.