dna gold mine

[knabe]

there sure is a lot of dna on file at dr. beever's lab.  what are some ideas of what we, ie, the association, should do with that dna, especially some of the more important founder bulls?  fees are doubling this year.

here's my list.

bovigen, mmi, ingenity set
search for pattern gene and screen.
couple more autoosmal recessives, ie monkey mouth, which may be more than one

I can't stress enough that the foresight to take blood for these tests or straws of semen was a great idea.  there is not a lot of dna, but there must be enough to screen a few more interesting traits.  especially since only a few hairs are necessary for the bovigen set.


once again, the latest issue of "the voice" mentioned the sizable number of tenderness tested animals in the maine breed.  there is virtually no availble information on these traits other than derouchey's and rademacher's catalogs.  would like to see people release this info.  are there reasons not to do this (report bovigen results)?


by the way, the quarter horse industry is going through the same debate right now about herda as the PHA/TH gene.  people are starting to list a stallion's status.  have yet to see ONE carrier stallion listed.  there is a new gene for horses that has a test, can't remember off the top of my head, but it is suspected that 10% of the population has it.  if offspring gets both copies, bingo, it's dead.  these tests should be looked at as positive tools with the caveat, buyer be aware, beware, whatever  yadah yadah

 

[Barrel Racer]

by the way, the quarter horse industry is going through the same debate right now about herda as the PHA/TH gene.  people are starting to list a stallion's status.  have yet to see ONE carrier stallion listed.  there is a new gene for horses that has a test, can't remember off the top of my head, but it is suspected that 10% of the population has it.  if offspring gets both copies, bingo, it's dead.  these tests should be looked at as positive tools with the caveat, buyer be aware, beware, whatever  yadah yadah

Are you talking about GBED (glycogen branching enzyme deficiency)?  Traced back to King I think.  Anyway the PhD student in MN working on it came down here in I think 2004 or 05 and worked in our lab for about a week.  I think she found the mutation not too long after leaving here, wonder why it's taken over 2 years?  Or the Polysaccaride Storage Myopathy (I don't think they die and can be treated with diet)?  Anyway if you guys think things take forever with your cows....I'm trying to get Turbo registered and it's such a fiasco with the AQHA.  There are no mentions of any genetic testing on reg. papers except HYPP and I think they send you a nice letter saying don't even think about registering this foal without the test (BTW, parentage is $40 then the HYPP test another $50, I looked online and the HERDA is I think another $40, GBED is $50 I could have the last two switched).  Sent in papers about 3 weeks ago still haven't gotten my genetic testing kit, so I can pull hairs and send back to them to wait another 2 months for a nice little sticker saying we recieved your sample.  All mares that are going to be bred have to be typed before they can be bred (that took 6 months), then I didn't get a DNA profile, called AQHA no one there has any idea what a DNA profile is.  Right now they are too busy trying to decide the fees for freezing semen and ET rules....  Anyway I'm answering your e-mail, so I'm not ignoring you!!

 

[knabe]

hahahahahahahahahaha.

GBED

there was an editorial in quarterhorse news about them and how the author thought there was going to be all this diversity on the genetic defects, who would report, test, and who wouldn't.  kinda funny.  dang, that's at least 3 defects for king isn't it?  herda (supposedly, still could be dam i think), GBED, and some other one i can't remember.  brings new meaning to the word king.

 

[dori36]

hahahahahahahahahaha.

GBED

there was an editorial in quarterhorse news about them and how the author thought there was going to be all this diversity on the genetic defects, who would report, test, and who wouldn't.  kinda funny.  dang, that's at least 3 defects for king isn't it?  herda (supposedly, still could be dam i think), GBED, and some other one i can't remember.  brings new meaning to the word king.

HERDA is believed to have originated in the main from Poco Bueno.  It is a connective tissue defect that doesn't allow the skin to attach properly, to siimplify the explanation.  It is also pretty clear that it has been around for a very long time.  Often you'll see young horses in some public sales with noticable scarring along backs and sides.  Many times the problem comes to light during saddle training with what appears as saddle sores.  Trouble is, they don't heal.  Many foals were simply euthanized.  Some were allowed to heal up and put through sales as having had an "accident" that accounted for the scars.  Most of the horses affected are in the cutting industry as the most prolific cutting sires descend from Poco Bueno.  Although King has been looked at, he doesn't seem to have nearly the descendents directly as Poco Bueno does.  It's really no secret any more who someof the best known carriers are:  Smart Little Lena,  Dry Doc, Doc Olena, etc., etc.  You can Google "HERDA" and gets lots of info and a carrier list as it is known so far. 

It's important to also realize that overall in the QH world, percentagewise there aren't very many affected horses.  It's a recessive so takes 2 copies to have the problem.  However, carriers can now be identified with dna testing.  That's only happened in the last year.  Those of us who love the Poco Bueno bloodlines are relieved the gene was identified.  Now, if everyone will just test for it......