The Callipyge gene of sheep

Abstract

The callipyge locus is characterized by a novel form of nonmendelian inheritance, referred to as polar overdominance. Acquiring a molecular understanding of this novel biological phenomenon will contribute to the understanding of complex traits, including those in the human. The proposed strategy to clone the callipyge gene is one of positional candidate cloning. This strategy aims at exploiting (a) the available human transcript map, and (b) the remarkable conservation of genome organization amongst mammals, thereby allowing us to apply the advances of the Human Genome Initiative to the ovine species.