Researchers in Australia are about to probe thoroughbreds to determine what genetic factors give elite performers in their ranks the winning edge.
The research, by scientists from Southern Cross University, has the potential to deliver a new understanding of the genetic makeup of high performance thoroughbreds, with outcomes that could also be applied to human athletic performance.
The researchers hope their work will help breeders, owners and trainers better identify potential elite horses for racing at specific distances, and in specific types of races, and enable them to better understand the value of using genetic markers and other performance indicators in racehorse selection.
Associate Professor Allan Davie, who has studied racehorses for over 20 years, is heading the research team, comprised of Southern Cross University staff Professor Shi Zhou and Dr Toni Pacey, in collaboration with researchers in China led by Professors Yong Zhang and Li Wen, from Tianjin University of Sport and Professor Bin Liu, from the Beijing Institute of Genomics.
The team has just been awarded an Australia-China International Science Linkages research grant of almost $A100,000 from the Australian Government and 120,000 yuan from the Chinese Government, for their project, entitled "An investigation on the Polymorphisms of mitochondrial DNA in relation to racing performance in thoroughbred horses".
Davie said it was well established that high aerobic power (maximum oxygen consumption) provided the physiological foundation for elite racing performance in both humans and horses.
"Large differences exist within species in relation to this maximum oxygen consumption and its response to training," he said. "Maximum oxygen consumption is influenced by the mitochondria found within individual cells.
"Mitochondrial density and function regulate aerobic power. Therefore, the genotype of mitochondria - the genetic history - is one of the key factors that determine muscle utilisation of oxygen and aerobic performance."
The current understanding, he said, is that mitochondrial DNA is the only genetic material outside the nucleic DNA that is transferred exclusively from mother to offspring in mammals.
Tianjin University of Sport, with the Beijing Institute of Genomics, has already been doing research on mitochondrial function in relation to exercise performance and health in humans, he said.
"Having them now involved in this research on horses with Southern Cross University scientists is a wonderful and exciting opportunity for us to learn more about this frontier area of equine genetics."
Davie said Australian horse racing is a billion-dollar industry. "Finding a more effective way of selecting and training potential elite performers based on genetic markers is on the agenda of breeders and scientists," he said.
"This project will place the researchers and their institutions at the frontier in this area of research."
Davie said the overall aim of the study was to discover the potential link between genotype variation of mitochondrial DNA and a horse's athletic ability, measured by its race performances and the money it has earned.
"Mitochondria carry the metabolic pathways for cellular respiration, therefore their function should correlate closely to aerobic performance as well as metabolic diseases.
"It is hypothesised that elite race (aerobic) performance can be linked to the traits of mitochondrial DNA, and that these traits are inherited from the mother, or dam."
Davie's research at Southern Cross University, which led up to the winning of the research grant, has for the past four years been supported by Kent racing stables in Melbourne.
News of the Australian research came the same week as a University College Dublin biotechnology company, Equinome, announced a genetic test it says can identify the optimum racing distance for individual thoroughbred horses.
The identification of the "speed gene" is said to be the first known characterisation of a gene contributing to a specific athletic trait in thoroughbreds.
Facebook
Twitter
HOME SITES 
