The extent, causes and implications of pleiotropy among complex traits. The project seeks to understand how a DNA mutation can affect many characters or traits. Many traits are called complex because they are controlled by a very large number of genes, most of which have small effects. Complex traits include traits important in medicine (such as susceptibility to heart disease) and in agriculture (such as tenderness of meat). Because there are many genes affecting each trait, most genes have sma ....The extent, causes and implications of pleiotropy among complex traits. The project seeks to understand how a DNA mutation can affect many characters or traits. Many traits are called complex because they are controlled by a very large number of genes, most of which have small effects. Complex traits include traits important in medicine (such as susceptibility to heart disease) and in agriculture (such as tenderness of meat). Because there are many genes affecting each trait, most genes have small effects which makes them hard to identify. The fact that a mutation that has a small effect on a complex trait also has a larger effect on a less complex trait may help us to identify the mutation and use it in agriculture or medicine.Read moreRead less
Evaluation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens H57 as a probiotic in livestock using animal nutrition studies and metagenomics. To improve animal production, gene sequencing will unravel how microbial communities in the rumen of sheep and cattle and the gastro intestinal tract of poultry respond to feed quality and probiotic bacteria. The animal nutrition trials will also measure weight gain and feed utilisation efficiency, particularly for nitrogen, protein and energy.