Horse genome

The horse genome was first sequenced in 2006. The Horse Genome Project mapped 2.7 billion DNA base pairs, and released the full map in 2009. The horse genome is larger than the dog genome, but smaller than the human genome or the bovine genome. It encompasses 31 autosomes and two sex chromosomes.

As horses share over 90 hereditary diseases similar to those found in humans, the sequencing of the horse genome has potential applications to both equine and human health. Further, nearly half of the chromosomes in the horse genome show conserved synteny with a human chromosome, far more than between dogs and humans. This is a high degree of conserved synteny and may help researchers use insights from one species to illuminate the other. Mapping the horse genome may also assist in the development of expression arrays to improve treatment of equine lameness, lung disease, reproduction, and immunology. Research also has provided new insights to the development of centromeres.

The $15 million project was funded by National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Additional funding came from the Dorothy Russell Havemeyer Foundation, the Volkswagen Foundation, the Morris Animal Foundation and the Programmi di Ricerca Scientifica di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale.

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