Sequencing the Equine Genome

Horse Genome to be Sequenced

Powerful new scientific strategies and methods for research on equine health will soon be available.  The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) is sequencing the horse genome at the Broad Institute in Boston, Massachusetts with a final assembly to be available by the end of 2006.  Scientists use the term "genome" to denote the entire complement of DNA sequences manifest by an individual.  The horse was selected for sequencing after Dr. Ernie Bailey at the University of Kentucky’s Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center submitted a proposal, a “White Paper”, to NHGRI demonstrating the importance of the horse genome sequence to both scientific research and the horse industry.  Co-authors on the proposal included Gluck Center scientists Dr. Teri Lear and Dr. Jamie MacLeod. 

While the main scientific objective of NHGRI is enabling a direct comparison of the horse and human genomes, this information will simultaneously revolutionize horse research.  Knowing the full DNA sequence is a fundamental step necessary to open the “black box” of equine genetics and will provide horse enthusiasts, horse professionals, equine veterinarians, and equine scientists access to critical new information and genetic tools.  The position and exact DNA sequence for every horse gene will be defined.  Through further research, it will be possible to figure out if important genetic determinants exist for many of the critical health problems that afflict horses and the functional role that contributing genes have in different disease processes.  Likewise, genes that regulate desirable traits can be identified and studied. 

The Horse Genome Project will have a profound impact on horse research worldwide.  The decision by NHGRI to sequence the entire equine genome culminates more than 10 years of collaborative international studies and workshops coordinated by scientists at the Gluck Center.  Beginning in October 1995 with the first workshop meeting held here in Lexington, scientists from the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Africa have worked together to develop increasingly detailed versions of equine gene maps and related genetic tools for horse research.  The efforts have facilitated identification of the causes for several inherited genetic disorders and desirable traits of horses.  Major funding for the workshops and collaborative scientific activities have been provided by The Morris Animal Foundation, The Dorothy Russell Havemeyer Foundation, and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Going forward, the availability of the full horse sequence will accelerate studies that are already underway and concurrently open important new opportunities for the Equine Genomics Research Group at the Gluck Center.  Dr. Bailey, Professor of Veterinary Science will investigate the genetics of the immune response and developmental diseases of young horses.  Dr. Jamie MacLeod, Professor of Veterinary Science and the Knight Chair for Musculoskeletal Sciences, will use the sequence to study changes in gene expression that are important in the development of osteoarthritis and other joint diseases.  And, Dr. Teri Lear, Research Associate Professor of Veterinary Science, will investigate genetic mutations that cause congenital musculoskeletal diseases and mare infertility.