Enhancing production in mink through advanced genomics

加在一起，加拿大和美国的貂皮产业每年为北美经济增加40多亿美元，仅加拿大经济就增加10亿美元。加拿大毛皮业在全国约有60，000个工作岗位，北美是世界第四大毛皮出口国。这种经济也可以通过改善北美水貂育种计划中的重要经济性状来增长（估计每年6000万美元），如饲料效率，生长率，繁殖性能，体型和毛皮质量。到目前为止，在北美收集这些数据用于水貂选择既困难又昂贵。如果不了解水貂育种者的遗传背景，这些新性状就不能被整合到育种计划中。水貂的基因组正在测序中，这将产生大量的单核苷酸多态性，可用于水貂的基因组研究。该项目将收集可用于基因组研究的3,000只动物的表型数据。这将通过达尔豪西大学和加拿大水貂饲养者协会之间的合作来实现。在这个项目中，这些性状的基因组选择的潜力将进行评估。这些性状的基因组选择（GS）将提高遗传增益率，从而为水貂业带来更多的利润，正如其他畜牧业所证明的那样。此外，该项目中鉴定的基因可以为标记辅助选择（MAS）计划提供新的机会。因此，本项目的目标是评估GS和MAS在水貂生产系统中的潜力，并开发用于实施遗传/基因组选择的工具，以培育上级、高效和健康的动物。该项目将培养高素质的人才，能够开发和应用创新的基因组学和生物信息学方法，用于农业，特别是水貂业。这种方法将有助于改善加拿大水貂业的整体表现，目前该行业由于毛皮价格下降和饲料成本高等几个经济因素而陷入困境。

Together, the mink industry in Canada and the United States add more than $4 billion to the North American economy each year, and $1 billion to the Canadian economy alone. The Canadian fur industry accounts for approximately 60,000 jobs across the country and North America is the fourth largest exporter of fur in the world. This economy can also grow (by an estimated $60 million annually) by improving economically important traits in North American mink breeding programs such as feed efficiency, growth rates, reproductive performance, body size and fur quality. To date, it has been both difficult and expensive to collect these data for mink selection in North America. These novel traits for mink breeders cannot be integrated into the breeding programs without good knowledge of their genetic backgrounds. The mink genome is now being sequenced and this will create a considerable number of single nucleotide polymorphisms that can be used for genomic studies in mink. The project will collect phenotypic data on 3,000 animals that can be used for genomic studies. This will be achieved by partnership between Dalhousie University and the Canada Mink Breeders Association. In this project, the potential of genomic selection for these traits will be evaluated. Genomic selection (GS) for these traits would increase the rate of genetic gain resulting in more profit for the mink industry as demonstrated in other livestock industries. In addition, the genes identified in the project could provide new opportunities for marker-assisted selection (MAS) program. Therefore, the objective of this project is to assess the potential of GS and MAS in mink production systems and develop the tools for implementation of genetic/genomic selection for the development of superior, high efficient and healthy animals. This project will generate highly qualified personnel capable of developing and applying innovative genomics and bioinformatics approaches of use in agriculture industry especially in the mink industry. This approach will help improve the overall performance of the Canadian mink industry, which is currently in difficulty, due to several economic factors such as declining fur prices and high feed costs.