Breeds and Products of Animal Origin

The course will provide students with the basic tools for analyzing the genetic diversity of animal populations and relating it to the one of their products.

Frontal teaching
1) Introduction - Dissemination of animal genetic resources. Cosmopolitan and local breeds and populations (2 hours).
2) Autochthonous breeds and non intensive farming (mountain farming) (1 hours).
3) Molecular data for the characterization of breeds and products of animal origin: structural variability of DNA (e.g. microsatellites, RFLP, SNP, genomic sequences) (2 hours).
4) Data analysis tools publicly available for the genetic characterization of the breeds (2 hours).
5) Examples of breeds and their products for some livestock species (2 hours).
6) Traceability of products, identification of species, breed and individual animal (4 hours).
7) Trademarks of protection for Italian products (1 hours).
8) slow_food (2 hours).

Practice
a) Practical session are envisaged on farms and local food processing plants (8 hours).
b) Browsing of national and European product databases (2 hours).
c) Case studies on breeds and products of animal origin - Research information on products of animal origin and their link with breeds and territory. Visit to production farms and processors (4 hours).
d) Practical examples of molecular traceability at the genomics laboratory (2 hours).