Marker gene for heat tolerance in cattle identified

It can help mitigate impact of climate change on livestock

A group of scientists have identified a marker gene for heat tolerance in cattle which can go a long way in mitigating the impacts of climate change on the livestock. The marker gene, christened ATP1A1, has been found in a collaborative study by a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU), the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. The findings were recently published in Animals, an international journal published from Switzerland. “The world is warming. We need animals that can tolerate warming climate. One way to address the issue is selecting heat-tolerant animals. Identification of marker genes is an important step in selecting a superior germplasm that can resist increasing heat,” says Muhammed Elayadeth-Meethal, Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Genetics, KVASU, the lead author of the study.