This U.S.-Brazil award will provide support to Dr. James E. Womack, Texas A&M Research Foundation, to collaborate with Dr. Paula C. Schneider, Para Federal University, and Dr. Elisabete J. Aamaral, Universidade Estadual Paulista, on mapping specific chromosomes of river buffalo through the construction and characterization of a panel of radiation hybrid (RH) cell lines. They propose to construct a buffalo radiation hybrid panel and to develop framework maps of buffalo chromosomes 1,2,X, and Y containing at least 60 microsatellites and 60 conserved genes or expressed sequence tags (ESTs).
The panel of RH lines generated will eventually be genotyped for markers throughout the genome, both in the laboratories of these Pis and in other labs throughout the world. Thus a whole genome RH map will be a product of the resource developed by this project. This map will be a primary tool for comparison of the buffalo genome to that of other mammals to identify evolutionary rearrangements and for identifying and isolating genes responsible for traits of biological interest. This gives breeders insight into improvement of animals related to agricultural needs.
