Olivier Hanotte

The central theme of my research is the understanding at the genome level of the genetic adaptations of “tropical’’ livestock to their production environments. We aim to unravel the genetic control of functional diversity for their uses in breeding improvement programs in cattle, small ruminant and chicken. We studied both Mendelian and quantitative traits. We use as tools next generation sequencing (NGS) and high-density genome wide SNP chips microarrays genotyping. Our model includes livestock population selected intensively by human (productivity and morphological traits) as well as indigenous population, in the tropics, under natural selection (e.g. survival traits such as disease resistances). We use genome wide molecular approaches and bioinformatics and statistical analysis for the detection and the mapping of signature of selection. A major baseline element of our work is the understanding of the genetic history of our model species and livestock genetic resources characterization is an important component of our research strategy.