Abstract
Reggiana and Modenese are dual-purpose local cattle breeds, but almost all milk produced by these two breeds is processed in mono-breed Protected Designation of Origin Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. The main objective of the project is to merge phenotypic traits, some of which have never been previously analysed in Italian local breeds, with omics data to link phenotypes to genotype variability that could be useful to guide deci-sions in the management and breeding plans of Reggiana and Modenese genetic resources. In particular, about 500 animals of Reggiana and 100-150 animals of Modenese will be subjected to phenotyping of novel milk and cheese-making efficiency traits and other related proxies such as resilience indicators (health traits, longevity, fertility), and omic data (metabolome, and genome profiles). Statistical analysis of new data will be implemented (e.g. heritability and correlations with investigated phenotypes). Genome wide association study (GWAS) will be performed to link single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) to productive and qualitative economically important traits, resilience relat-ed indicators and metabolome profiles. The surrounding region of significant SNPs will be investigated to identify candidate genes and putative causative mutations. The project is divided in 4 Work Packages (WPs) that will assure the correct work flow of all activities to reach the indicated objective: WP1: Coordination, management, measures to maximize impact, communication and dissemination. WP2: Milk and cheese-making traits and other related proxies. WP3: Production of omics (metabolomics, foodomics, and genomics) data. WP4: Integration of data and applications. Two research groups with extensive research experience in milk production, quality and cheese-making ability (UNIPR), and metabolomics and genomics in livestock (UNIBO), are proposing this project that is innovative and applied at the same time. The project is expected to have important impacts on different fields: efficiency of cheese-making process (yield and nutrient recovery in cheese), resilience (e.g., disease reduction) of the local cattle populations; new knowledge in basic and applied research fields.
Dettagli del progetto
Responsabile scientifico: Stefania Dall'Olio
Strutture Unibo coinvolte:
Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari
Coordinatore:
ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - Università di Bologna(Italy)
Contributo totale di progetto: Euro (EUR) 206.614,00
Contributo totale Unibo: Euro (EUR) 126.500,00
Durata del progetto in mesi: 24
Data di inizio
12/10/2023
Data di fine:
28/02/2026
