Genetic Cryopreservation of Rare Breeds of Domesticated North American Livestock: Smithsonian &amp; SVF Biodiversity Preservation Project

Sarah C Bowley,David J Matsas,Eugene C White,Kevin A Lindell,Pierre Comizzoli

doi:10.3390/d11100198

Abstract

Modern agriculture has responded to the growing pressure for animal-protein consumption in the global human population by selecting for specific production traits, which, over the last fifty years, has resulted in a loss of genetic diversity. Most rare and endangered breeds of livestock have not experienced the same selection pressures for production and therefore may contain useful genetic traits not found within modern breeds. In an effort to maintain biodiversity of livestock breeds, the SVF Foundation, a non-profit organization founded to preserve the genetic diversity of food and fiber livestock, has established an ex situ repository of genetic material from endangered North American cattle, sheep, and goats. This genetic material includes in vivo and in vitro produced embryos, semen, fibroblasts, serum, and whole blood DNA cards. The majority of samples in the SVF repository are cryopreserved, creating a genome resource bank for future use. Through the Smithsonian and SVF Biodiversity Preservation Project, this repository will be maintained at the Smithsonian’s Front Royal, VA, facility. This effort represents an excellent model for understanding and sustaining the genetic diversity of rare breeds in the US and in other countries.

Highlights

Endangered livestock breeds are well suited to thrive in a variety of ecosystems, climates and production systems, but most are not well adapted for the environments or production systems which have emerged with the recent industrialization of commercial agriculture
Animals are sourced from herds located throughout the United States and strict biosecurity guidelines dictate a panel of health testing for each animal prior to transportation to the SVF facility, Newport, RI, USA
Embryos are produced, evaluated and cryopreserved following standard methods approved by the International Embryo Technology Society (IETS) [6]

Summary

Introduction

At least 17% of the world’s domesticated livestock breeds, which have evolved in response to natural and artificial selection pressures over the last 10,000 years, are currently threatened with extinction, with an alarming 58% of livestock breeds having an unknown stability status [1]. Endangered livestock breeds are well suited to thrive in a variety of ecosystems, climates and production systems, but most are not well adapted for the environments or production systems which have emerged with the recent industrialization of commercial agriculture. Organization (FAO) reports that 99 documented breeds were lost to extinction between 2000 and 2014 due to insufficient breeding efforts or crossbreeding [1]. In response to this rapid loss of genetic diversity, the SVF Foundation, a privately-funded nonprofit based in Newport, RI, USA, was founded in 2002. In collaboration with the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, the SVF has established an ex situ repository of genetic material from endangered breeds of North American livestock, including cattle, sheep, and goats. Recent advances in gene-mapping technology are providing the means to identify unique loci and to validate maintenance of these rare-breed populations as more genetic advantages are identified within each breed

Materials and Methods

Findings

Results