The turkey is a dwelling bird found mostly in North America and it's a popular choice of meat protein for Americans. With turkey genome sequencing, scientists hope to improve breed quality, meat yield and disease resistance. Find more about turkey genome sequencing in the following article.
Why are scientists busy with the genome analysis of turkey bird chromosomes? Well, genome sequencing has great potential in deciphering gene locations, protein structure prediction, protein functions, defective genes and much more. Scientists are conducting genomic research to be able to offer breeders the chance of enhancing the quality of commercial turkey breeds, improve their health, fertility and disease resistance capability, among other potential benefits.
Turkey genome research will also be used to study disease pathogenesis, muscle development and function. A group of internationally acclaimed scientists at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute of Virginia have by now started the turkey-sequencing project. These scientists are working on the GS-FLX sequencing platform. However, once the sequencing process is completed, it will be assembled using shotgun sequencing (it is a method, which is used to sequence long DNA fragments) and short and long paired- end reads.
After completing the turkey sequencing project scientists will compare these sequences with the sequences of the chicken genome to examine any similarities and differences in the genome organization. This comparative analysis will help design tools to further improve breed quality, meat and quality production, fertility and other issues. According to Rami Dalloul, assistant professor of poultry immunology at Virginia Tech, “Having the turkey genome sequence at hand will help uncover disease-resistance and immune-related genes that can then be targeted to improve our understanding of disease development in the context of host-pathogen interactions.”
The turkey genome sequence project will enable scientists to integrate different tools that will help in the study of; genetic linkage, cytogenetic maps, expressed sequence tags, gene and proteins. In addition, the project will help in the development of tools including high-throughput gene expression arrays and genetic marker maps based on SNP’s (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms). The turkey genome-sequence will be available publicly on GenBank.
Livescience. “Turkey Genome to Be Sequenced.” Retrieved on December 11, 2008 from Turkey genome.
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