DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTEGRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CIS-REGULATORY ELEMENTS IN LIVESTOCK THROUGH DATA RE-USE.

Our overarching goal is to develop a database of genomic regulatory elements, software and tutorials to use these tools that will help researchers and breeders identify the genetic mechanisms underlaying complex traits and improve genomic breeding methods. To accomplish these long term goals, the objectives of this proposal are to: 1) identify/annotate genetic regulatory regions (i.e., cis-regulatory elements (CREs)) in pig and cattle; 2) create software to share regulatory annotations and integrate these annotations with exiting genomic data to help researchers identify causative genetic variants; 3) evaluate the utility of the annotated regulatory elements in improving genomic prediction and identifying genes impacting complex trait phenotypes, and 4) provide training in the software and resources developed in this proposal.