COLLABORATIVE LINKS

The good collaborative links developed in the first EC PiGMaP programme have been built upon and extended. The PiGMaP Linkage Consortium has developed a international linkage mapping resource. Laboratories beyond those engaged in the formal EC PiGMaP contract use this resource for linkage mapping studies. These laboratories include groups in Australia, Japan, Germany, the Czech Republic and the United States. Genotyping data are submitted electronically to the Consortium database (ResPig). Two point linkage analyses are performed and the results reported back to the submitting laboratory. Consortium members can also access the database and perform their own analyses. Similarly, the somatic cell hybrid panels developed within the context of the PiGMaP collaborations are now used for synteny mapping by groups outwith the formal PiGMaP collaborators. Tools for submitting synteny mapping data and for making synteny assignments have been estbalished for the Toulouse panel. The porcine YAC library developed in this programme has already been used by others to isolate large genomic fragments from interesting regions of the pig genome. The analysis of the intestine cDNA library has typified the collaborative links within the programme. The cDNA library was created in Copenhagen, clones were sequenced in Copenhagen, Oslo and Uppsala, markers were developed by these three groups and mapped in the Toulouse somatic cell hybrid panel and the PiGMaP reference pedigrees.

The PiGMaP collaboration has been enhanced by the participation of the associated laboratories in Australia, Japan and the United States. In particular, the US Swine Genome Coordinator (Prof. Max Rothschild) has made resources such as the PCR primers (including fluorescently labelled primer) freely available to the PiGMaP laboratories. His regular Pig Genome Update newsletter covers issues of interest to the PiGMaP laboratories. Editorial control of the pig genome database (PiGBASE) continues as a joint activity between the PiGMaP coordinator (Dr. Archibald) and Prof. Rothschild.