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LZU Research Team Constructs the First Multi-tissue Epigenome Atlas of Sheep

On December 15th, the research team led by Professor Wang Weimin of College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University (LZU), published an online paper entitled “Comprehensive multi-tissue epigenome atlas in sheep: A resource for complex traits, domestication and breeding” in the international journal iMeta .

Based on multi-dimensional (RNA-Seq, ATAC-Seq, CUT&Tag and Hi-C) data from nine major tissues of sheep, the team constructed the first multi-tissue epigenome atlas of sheep, systematically annotated the sheep genome, and identified 753,723 nonredundant functional elements, over 60% of which is novel. It mainly includes tissue-specific promoters and enhancers linked to sensory abilities, immune response, and tail fat deposition (Figure 1). Combined with sheep breeds with different tail types worldwide and a sheep cohort built up over 10 years, the team identified target gene (BMP2) and a novel variant (Chr13:51760995A>C) that could influence sheep tail fat deposition (Figure 2) through integration analysis of multi-layered data sets. The research findings fill the knowledge gap in the field of multi-tissue epigenetic atlas of shape and provide valuable data resources and genetic materials for sheep breeding.

Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1002/imt2.254