Projects / Programmes
Molecular analysis of mammalian growth
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 4.02.01 |
Biotechnical sciences |
Animal production |
Genetics and selection |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B220 |
Biomedical sciences |
Genetics, cytogenetics |
| B350 |
Biomedical sciences |
Development biology, growth (animal), ontogeny, embryology |
high growth mutation, hg, identification, growth, mouse, positional cloning, marker, chicken
Researchers (2)
| no. |
Code |
Name and surname |
Research area |
Role |
Period |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
10412 |
PhD Simon Horvat |
Biotechnical sciences |
Head |
1998 - 1999 |
561 |
| 2. |
06832 |
PhD Jurij Pohar |
Animal production |
Researcher |
1998 - 1999 |
212 |
Abstract
To seek a complete understanding of the growth process, individual genetic and environmental factors need to be identified. The single gene growth mutants in mice have proven to be an invaluable source for studying the genetic determinants of growth in mammals. The significance of such findings can be demonstrated in the examples of identifying specific defects caused by dwarf (dw), little (lit) and obese (ob) genes.
The high growth (hg) gene in mouse presents a unique model in that it causes a major increase in growth rate (30-50%), increases growth proportionally in all tissues and organs, and does not result in obesity. Our efforts have been directed toward identifying hg based on its map position. Previous studies have developed a high-resolution genetic map of hg and revealed that a deletion of a region in mouse chromosome 10 is cosegregating with hg. Based on these results we set out a hypothesis that high growth effect is most likely due to a lack-of-function of hg. The research proposed in here aims at identification of hg by cloning and characterizing genes from the region deleted in high growth mice. As an application of a research on cloning hg in mice, we will attempt to develop a genetic marker in the hg region in the chicken. This may potentially lead to identification of a marker for a rapid and efficient growth in this species. Identification of the hg gene should bring new insights into the regulation of mammalian growth. In adddition, it will provide a basis for assessing the role of hg in human growth disorders and may lead to identification of a marker for growth in domestic animals, which , in turn, should help animal breeders in selecting animals with genetic potential for rapid and efficient growth.
