In this study, the genetic relationship and the population structure of western Mediterranean basin native sheep breeds are investigated, analyzing Maghrebian, Central Italian, and Venetian sheep ...with a highly informative microsatellite markers panel. The phylogeographical analysis, between breeds' differentiation level (Wright's fixation index), gene flow, ancestral relatedness measured by molecular coancestry, genetic distances, divergence times estimates and structure analyses, were revealed based on the assessment of 975 genotyped animals. The results unveiled the past introduction and migration history of sheep in the occidental Mediterranean basin since the early Neolithic. Our findings provided a scenario of three westward sheep migration phases fitting properly to the westward Neolithic expansion argued by zooarcheological, historical and human genetic studies.
Summary The recently emerged CRISPR/Cas9 approach represents an efficient and versatile genome editing tool for producing genetically modified animals. Beta-carotene oxygenase 2 (BCO2) is a key ...enzyme in the progress of beta-carotene metabolism and is associated with yellow adipose tissue color in sheep. We have recently demonstrated targeted multiplex mutagenesis in sheep and have generated a group of BCO2-disrupted sheep by zygote injection of the CRISPR/Cas9 components. Here, we show that biallelic modification of BCO2 resulted in yellow fat, compared with the fat color in monoallelic individuals and wild types (snow-flower white). We subsequently characterized the effects of gene modifications at genetic levels employing sequencing and Western blotting, highlighting the importance of the BCO2 gene for the determination of fat color in sheep. These results indicate that genetic modification via CRISPR/Cas9 holds great potential for validating gene functions as well as for generating desirable phenotypes for economically important traits in livestock.
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![Biallelic [beta]-carotene o...](http://api.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/image/issn/XR4PS5YY4K/0268-9146/small "Biallelic [beta]-carotene oxygenase 2 knockout results in yellow fat in sheep via CRISPR/Cas9")