Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Holstein Friesian dairy cattle edited for diluted coat color as adaptation to climate change

View ORCID ProfileG. Laible, S-A. Cole, View ORCID ProfileB. Brophy, J. Wei, View ORCID ProfileS. Leath, View ORCID ProfileS. Jivanji, View ORCID ProfileM.D. Littlejohn, View ORCID ProfileD.N. Wells
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.15.298950
G. Laible
1AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
2School of Medical Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
3Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for G. Laible
  • For correspondence: goetz.laible@agresearch.co.nz
S-A. Cole
1AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
B. Brophy
1AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for B. Brophy
J. Wei
1AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
S. Leath
1AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for S. Leath
S. Jivanji
4Massey University Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for S. Jivanji
M.D. Littlejohn
4Massey University Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand
5Livestock Improvement Corporation, Newstead, New Zealand
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for M.D. Littlejohn
D.N. Wells
1AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for D.N. Wells
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

High-producing Holstein Friesian dairy cattle have a characteristic black and white coat pattern where black frequently comprises a large proportion of the coat. Compared to a light coat color, black absorbs more solar radiation translating into radiative heat gain which is a contributing factor to heat stress in cattle, negatively impacting on their production levels, fertility and welfare. To better adapt dairy cattle to the rapidly changing climatic conditions with predictions for more frequent and prolonged hot temperature patterns, we aimed to lighten their coat color by genome editing. Using gRNA/Cas9-mediated editing, we introduced a three base pair (bp) deletion in the pre-melanosomal protein 17 gene (PMEL) proposed as the causative variant responsible for the semi-dominant color dilution phenotype seen in Galloway and Highland cattle. Calves generated from cells homozygous for the edited mutation revealed a strong color dilution effect. Instead of the characteristic black and white coat color patterning of control calves generated from unedited parental cells, the edited calves displayed a novel pattern of grey and white markings and absence of any black areas. This, for the first time, verified the causative nature of the PMEL mutation for diluting the black coat color in cattle. With these edited animals, it is now possible to dissect the effects of the introgressed edit and other interfering allelic variants that might exist in individual cattle and accurately determine the impact of only the three bp change on important health, welfare and production traits. In addition, our study proved targeted editing as a promising approach for the rapid adaptation of livestock to changing climatic conditions.

Competing Interest Statement

G.L., S.C., B.B., J.W., S.L. and D.N.W. are employees of AgResearch and declare that they have no conflict of interest or financial conflicts to disclose. Likewise, S.J declares to not have competing interests. M.D.L. is an employee of Livestock Improvement Corporation, a commercial provider of bovine germplasm.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted September 17, 2020.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Holstein Friesian dairy cattle edited for diluted coat color as adaptation to climate change
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Holstein Friesian dairy cattle edited for diluted coat color as adaptation to climate change
G. Laible, S-A. Cole, B. Brophy, J. Wei, S. Leath, S. Jivanji, M.D. Littlejohn, D.N. Wells
bioRxiv 2020.09.15.298950; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.15.298950
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Holstein Friesian dairy cattle edited for diluted coat color as adaptation to climate change
G. Laible, S-A. Cole, B. Brophy, J. Wei, S. Leath, S. Jivanji, M.D. Littlejohn, D.N. Wells
bioRxiv 2020.09.15.298950; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.09.15.298950

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Genetics
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3520)
  • Biochemistry (7373)
  • Bioengineering (5357)
  • Bioinformatics (20356)
  • Biophysics (10059)
  • Cancer Biology (7789)
  • Cell Biology (11361)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6457)
  • Ecology (9995)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13374)
  • Genetics (9379)
  • Genomics (12625)
  • Immunology (7735)
  • Microbiology (19122)
  • Molecular Biology (7482)
  • Neuroscience (41198)
  • Paleontology (301)
  • Pathology (1236)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2146)
  • Physiology (3189)
  • Plant Biology (6887)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1277)
  • Synthetic Biology (1901)
  • Systems Biology (5332)
  • Zoology (1091)