AN ONGOING GOAL OF ANIMAL GENOMICS IS TO IDENTIFY THOSE VARIANTS THAT DIRECTLY CAUSE PHENOTYPIC VARIATION IN ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT TRAITS. MANY GENOMIC VARIANTS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED BUT PHENOTYPIC VARIATION IS OFTEN MORE COMPLEX THAN A SINGULAR CAUSE. LARGE, GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES RARELY IDENTIFY CAUSAL VARIANTS WITHIN GENE BODIES, AND RECENT EFFORTS TO ANNOTATE NON-CODING REGIONS OF THE GENOME HAVE MADE PROGRESS TOWARDS IMPROVING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW GENOME VARIATION LEADS TO DIFFERENT PHENOTYPES. THE TRANSLATOME REFERS TO THE ENTIRETY OF MESSENGER RNAS ASSOCIATED WITH RIBOSOMES AND UNDERGOING ACTIVE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS. FUNCTIONAL ANNOTATION OF THE GENOME IS NECESSARY IN ORDER TO FULLY DISCERN THE EFFECTS OF POLYMORPHISMS ON PHENOTYPIC VARIATION. TO DETERMINE THE ROLE OF TRANSLATION REGULATION AND EFFICIENCY IN THE FUNCTIONAL ANNOTATION OF GENOMES, WE MUST FIRST DECIPHER THE TRANSLATOME. OUR LONG-TERM GOAL TO UNDERSTAND HOW GENETIC VARIATION AMONG LIVESTOCK CAN IMPACT PHENOTYPIC VARIATION THROUGH ALTERED TRANSLATION EFFICIENCY AND CONTRIBUTE THIS KNOWLEDGE TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF GENETIC SELECTION FOR ANIMAL BREEDING AND PRODUCTION.

Oklahoma State University, Stillwater OK

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