April 23 (Bloomberg) -- The genetic blueprint of domestic cows has been decoded in a scientific feat that traces bovine evolution and may lead to more nutritious milk, meat and increased food supply, scientists reported.

A six-year effort by more than 300 researchers sequenced and analyzed the 22,000 genes of the bovine genetic code, which includes cell instructions for making milk and muscles, according to the research published online today in the journal Science. The genetic data also reveal how the cow’s four- chambered stomach digests and transforms grass forage into body tissues that make high-quality beef.

Understanding the biology and evolution of cows may lead to a revolution in cattle breeding, said study researchers in a statement. The key traits may be used to meet the need for affordable, sustainable nutrition, the authors said.

“It’s a huge and significant advancement to have whole genome information of important traits in cattle,” said Ronnie Green, senior director for global technical services of Pfizer Animal Genetics, a unit of New York-based Pfizer Inc.’s Animal Health unit. Green participated in the research in a previous job at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Among the key findings were special genes governing cattle reproduction, digestion, lactation and immune resistance to disease that “may provide an enabling tool for genetic improvement within the beef and dairy industries,” wrote senior author Kim C. Worley of Baylor College of Medicine’s Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, based in Houston.

‘Bull’s Market’

The studies’ findings may lead to biomedical advances that include better animal models of human disease, said Harris Lewin, a co-author and researcher at the Institute for Genomic Biology and Department of Animal Sciences of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“The barnyard door is now open,” wrote Lewin. “In a bull’s market, everyone wins.”

The National Cattleman’s Beef Association deferred comment until officials at the trade group had a chance to read the research reports, said Meghan Pusey, a spokeswoman for the Centennial, Colorado-based association. Dairy Management Inc., a marketing organization in Rosemont, Illinois, had no immediate comment, said Stacey Stevens, a public relations officer.

The USDA estimates total 2008 retail value of the U.S. beef industry was $73.6 billion, according to Kenneth Mathews, an agricultural economist at the agency. The retail value of the dairy industry’s 2008 products was $110 billion, said Chris Galen, spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation in Arlington, Virginia.

Hereford’s 22,000 Genes

The studies began with a single, red-and-white Hereford cow in Miles City, Montana, named L1 Dominette, whose DNA, or hereditary material, was compared with cows representing six other breeds. That information was used to develop probes, or tools, to analyze distinct genetic variations of 497 cattle from 19 geographically and biologically diverse breeds.

Industry has already begun to adopt tools for genetic analysis developed from the research, Green said in a telephone interview from the National Association of Animal Breeders conference in Baltimore.

A gene chip called the BovineSNP50, containing 54,000 probes marketed by Illumina Inc. of San Diego, California, has already been developed using the study data by Curtis Van Tassell, a geneticist at the USDA, based in Beltsville, Maryland. Van Tassel was also a project leader of a group that wrote one of today’s research reports and included researchers at the USDA, Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Missouri.

Building a Better Cow

The gene chip is already in widespread use to genotype bulls for breeding, Van Tassell said in a telephone interview.

“The industry has adopted this and it’s transformed everything about the genetic improvement of the industry,” Van Tassell said in the interview. “This is capturing naturally occurring variation. Think of it as a precision mating tool. It’s about managing diversity to build a better cow.”

The cow genome studies weren’t designed to encourage any effort toward genetic modification of cows or their food products, said Green, the Pfizer executive.

“That’s not the focus,” Green said. “That’s not to say there won’t be some interest.” The project was intended “to improve productivity and well-being of animals using classic breeding,” he said.

Several of the scientists who were authors of the research said commercial breeding of animals has narrowed the range of hereditary traits, and they urged careful monitoring and protection of genetic diversity.

Preserving Variation

“It is crucial that we preserve this variation through appropriate breeding programs in order to maintain healthy cattle populations” that can weather climate change and new diseases, said Shirley Ellis, head of the Bovine Molecular Immunology Group at the Institute for Animal Health of the Britain’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Gaining knowledge about the hereditary roots of livestock “may help us with diversity as we drill down to traits breeders want, be it a cow’s udder health or strength of the legs,” said Galen, the spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation. “It will also allow us to do more with less, get more milk from fewer cows and reduce our environmental footprint.”

The research, which cost a total $54 million according to Van Tassel of the USDA, was funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, the USDA, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Genome Canada, and other international scientific and corporate sponsors.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marilyn Chase in San Francisco at mchase6@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 23, 2009 20:51 EDT