Identification of association of genome regions with community composition of rumen methanogenic in Holstein cattle

Methane emission by ruminants has considerable contribution to global warming. Individual animals have been argued to harbor their own specific microbial communities responsible for methane production. The objective of this study is to identify the genomic regions associated with community composition of rumen methanogenic archaea in Iranian Holstein cattle. The genomic DNA from 300 Iranian Holstein cattle have been genotyped using the Illumina 30K SNP panel. The community composition of rumen methanogenic archaea will be defined by qPCR of 16S rRNA genes and alignment of Illumine MiSeq reads to the GREENGENES database. Whole-genome association analyses for community composition of rumen methanogenic archaea will be performed using various statistical methods to identify quantitative trait loci and genes underlying methane emission in Iranian Holstein cattle. It is anticipated that the results of these studies will lead to the reduction of methane emission rate per animal in Iranian Holstein cattle.

Faculty Supervisor:

Younes Miar

Student:

Partner:

University of Tehran

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

Dalhousie University

Program: