Anuario Raza Polo Argentino Anuario2017 | Page 254

Genomics and Detection of Diseases
and Phenotypic Features
Another of the possible uses of genomics is the
possibility of detecting an association between
susceptibility to diseases and certain genetic
markers. Animals that present these susceptibility
allele variations could transmit them to their
progeny, producing animals that are not fit for the
sport, or that tend to have more health problems
throughout their lives. Also, by analyzing the
genome of two possible biological parents
(paternal and maternal) this could give us an idea
of the chances of that progeny suffering some
type of genetic defect that may run counter to its
sports capacity, or even reproductive capabilities.
This same concept may be applied for specific
phenotype traits, such as the type of muscle fibers
that will prevail; coat color; tendency towards
reaching a certain height, etc. Although this type
of markers has been found in other equine breeds
around the world, their existence is still unknown in
the Argentine polo pony. Likewise, all these factors
will be determined jointly and automatically, which
makes the information provided by the genomic
analysis of an animal very valuable in several
aspects related to decision-taking by breeders.
Genomics and Marker-Assisted
Selection in Horses
Development of this technology in the equine
species is practically non-existent globally. This
is due to several causes among which we find the
reluctance of some breeds that only continue to
allow natural mating; lack of breeders’ associations
committed to scientific advancement and the
difficulty to carry out research in horses that
participate in specific disciplines but that belong to
different breeds. This is why a group of investigators
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belonging to different universities of Argentina
Spain and the United States propose to increase
the development of this type of methodologies in
the species, taking the Argentine polo pony as a
foundational model. And this is because our polo
pony is state of the art in the application of new
production technologies on a global level, and
is, additionally, one of the production systems in
which selection is done more intensively because
of the production and competition structure that
exists in this sport in Argentina. To this we must
add the strength of the Argentine Association of
Polo Pony Breeders that encompasses the whole
of the breeders of this breed, and which has also
always been at the forefront in the implementation
of scientific advances of the species.
To this end, several related studies will be carried
out for the purpose of determining a genetic and
genomic assessment system for the breed. On
one hand, the first step shall determine which
the “selection objectives” of the breed are, which
will be reflected in a group of characters that are
economically relevant to the breeders. Based on
this, certain selection criteria will be established
that will make it possible to measure this group
of characters objectively and economically. This
criteria shall be based both in the sports success
reached by the animal—taking into account (or
adjusting accordingly) the handicap rating of the
player mounting it (performance criteria); and at the
same time the morphological; physiological and
biomechanical characters that may be associated
to the performance of these animals during the
matches (morphological and functional criteria); as
well as cognitive and behavioral criteria (associated
to the intellectual capacity of the horse; resistance
to stress; nervousness or tameness, etc.). But
in order to do this it is necessary to refine upon
the criteria in order to measure sports potential;