Publisher's Synopsis
Reproduction is essential for all species as it is the key for survival and evolution. Overall processes of sexual reproduction are relatively conserved and well defined, but the underlying molecular and genetic basis of each of the numerous steps involving these general processes is much less known. Many of these processes have great impact in veterinary reproductive medicine and are influenced by the assisted reproductive techniques applied. Altered environmental and metabolic conditions caused by intensive livestock farming influence reproductive success by altered gene expression via epigenetic changes. The complexity and transient nature of specific reproductive processes are the cause of reduced knowledge concerning their molecular basis. Transgenic technology has been applied mainly in the study of gene structure and function. Transgenic technology has potential for rapidly improving quantity and quality of agricultural products, compared to traditional selection and breeding methods in domestic animals that are time consuming when attempting to alter the desired allele frequency for specific traits. Additionally, transgenic animals can be used as biomedical research models or directly for human health, by producing recombinant pharmaceutical proteins and/or organs for xenotransplantation. Due to the advantage of bypassing the need of embryonic stem (ES) cells that are difficult to isolate in domestic animal species, cell-based method of transgenesis followed by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is currently widely applied. However, due to the limitations in making genetic modifications and SCNT, producing genetically modified animals is still inefficient. Fortunately, the current advancement of new techniques and methods in both gene targeting and abilities to produce pluripotent stem cells holds great promises for this field. This volume "Genetics in Domestic Animal Reproduction" depicts the knowledge about genetic factors affecting reproduction in livestock and available methods for studying the genetic influence on reproductive traits. Identification of the genetic basis of reproductive processes is in general complicated by their complex and quantitative nature. This volume also will review the recent progress and technical route of the cell-based method of transgenesis by SCNT and discuss the newly emerging methods to enrich the gene targeting frequency of somatic cells. We will also discuss factors to improve the efficiency of SCNT and our future perspectives on the promises of this field. More recently the availability of high throughput platforms for the study of the genome at structural (SNP chips) and functional (expression microarrays) levels offer new possibilities for the dissection of the genetic variation and metabolic pathways influencing reproductive efficiency.
