Plant & Animal Genomes XVII Conference Plant & Animal Genomes XVII ConferenceJanuary 10-14, 2009
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA
Ross L. Tellam1 , The Bovine Genome Sequencing and Analysis Consortium2
The 7x cattle genome sequence provides an unprecedented resource for comparative studies of the genes involved in mammalian innate immunity. A combination of community-based manual annotation and a variety of whole genome analyses highlight changes in the number, organization and sequence of many innate immune genes compared with corresponding genes in the murine and human genomes. The latter analyses included identification of genes involved in segmental duplications, genes subject to adaptive evolution, gene family rearrangements and alterations in the number of genes in specific gene families. The molecular and biological implications of these changes in the innate immune gene repertoire are poorly understood. It is speculated that the herd structure of cattle, which promotes rapid transmission of infectious diseases, and independently the large load of micro-organisms present in the rumen of the cow, which exposes mucosal surfaces to increased risk of opportunistic infections, are some of the key evolutionary drivers underpinning changes in the innate immune system of the cow compared with other mammalian species.