A small sample is taken from the animal's ear
The first Scrapie genotyping service providing UK sheep breeders with eight additional markers for commercial traits, together with the ability to verify parentage and pedigree
The service has been launched by Innovis Breeding Services in partnership with GenomNZ, New Zealand's leading commercial animal DNA genotyping laboratory.
Called the Sheep Genomic 80K Plus Package, all samples will be collected using Allflex Tissue Sampling Units (TSU's) and analysed using an 80,000 SNP assay which has full global compatibility and has been validated across New Zealand and UK flocks. The platform was developed in New Zealand where the service was developed the Bioeconomy Science Institute.
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Pedigree verification
The service includes reporting of single gene tests, genotypes of choice made available to Signet or SIL for genomic selection. Individual certificates of Scrapie genotype and type will also be made available to present at society sales. Over time, the service will enable breed societies to check parentage and verify pedigree of individual animals whilst building a DNA archive that can be used for research and breed development.
The Allflex TSU sampling device is easy to use with an applicator harvesting a small amount of tissue from the animal's ear which is deposited into the preservation liquid in the TSU where it remains until it is removed by the laboratory. It can be used in animals as young as one-day-old.
Geneticist, Dr Janet Roden says: "The new service will provide increased accuracy in breeders' genetic evaluations and in addition to markers for Scrapie and parentage, the platform offers gene marker tests of particular interest to UK breeders including meat and fat yield, number of lambs born and specific health traits."
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