By creating a global database, an international consortium of scientists has increased the detailed knowledge of the variation in the cattle genome by several orders of magnitude. The first generation of the new data resource, which will be open access, forms an essential tool for scientists working with cattle genetics and livestock history. The results are published in as the cover story (image) of the August 2014 issue of Nature Genetics. It's momentous, says one of the scientists behind the international effort, associate professor Dr. Bernt Guldbrandtsen from the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark. Scientists from Aarhus University – the only Danish university to participate – have been part of the consortium from the start and have contributed 15 percent of the data. The data used in the huge database are derived from key ancestor bulls. These bulls have produced millions of descendants and have had enormous influence on the genetic composition and characteristics of modern cattle breeds. For example, Holstein bulls in the database have fathered at least 6.3 million daughters worldwide. The data consist of sequenced genomes for a number of bulls and are based on new sequencing techniques. The article in Nature Genetics describes data from 232 bulls and 2 cows of the breeds Angus, Holstein, Jersey, and Fleckvieh. Because these animals are key ancestors, they carry most of the genetic variations present in the three races. Currently, the database contains genomes of more than 1,200 animals of different cattle breeds, but as more scientists from other countries gradually join the project, there is a continual influx of data.Login Or Register To Read Full Story