AgResearch has announced that a needle-in-a-haystack search for the genetic cause of delayed puberty in a flock of Romney ewes has paid off for a team of its scientists.
Understanding what regulates the arrival of puberty is important for livestock breeding as well as human health.
Researchers in AgResearch’s Animal Reproduction team at Invermay had noticed that late puberty was a family trait in their research flock. This caused the late developers to miss out on lambing during what could be their first breeding season. They had previously demonstrated that late developers also produce fewer lambs during their lifespans.
A family tree search traced the trait back to a common grand-sire from the Davisdale line of Romneys. This line of sheep, which has become an important research tool, was established by retired AgResearch scientist Dr George Davis from the flock of his father, Stan Davis.
AgScience 