Promotion of domestication of giant rodent grass cutters for environmental protection and food safety in West Africa

Principal Investigator (Affiliation)	Associate Prof. KOIDE Tsuyoshi Mouse Genomics Resource Laboratory, Department of Gene Function and Phenomics, National Institute of Genetics
Co-investigator	Prof. MURAYAMA Miho Wildlife Research Center, Kyoto University Project Prof. TOYODA Atsushi Comparative Genomics Laboratory, Department of Genomics and Evolutionary Biology, National Institute of Genetics Prof. NIIMURA Yoshihito Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Miyazaki Assistant Prof. TAKANAMI Keiko Mouse Genomics Resource Laboratory, Department of Gene Function and Phenomics, National Institute of Genetics
International Coordinator	Associate Prof. KOIDE Tsuyoshi Mouse Genomics Resource Laboratory, Department of Gene Function and Phenomics, National Institute of Genetics
Research Institutions in Japan	National Institute of Genetics / Kyoto University / The University of Tokyo
Cooperating Organization in Japan
Partner Country	Republic of Ghana
Research Institutions in Ghana
Cooperating organization in Ghana	University of Ghana / NGO GIfT
Support Organization
General Description of the Research Project	This study establishes a breeding platform for domestication of wild herbivorous giant rodent grasscutters that are edible in West African countries. Through this, we aim to create a new livestock industry in the future, protect the environment and ensure a safe diet. Locally, wild grasscutters are traded at high prices, causing problems such as overfishing, burning bushes for capture, and the risk of infectious diseases. For this reason, domestication of grasscutters is required, but breeding of wild individuals is not easy. Therefore, in this study, we apply the domestication method by selective breeding developed using mice and establish the foundation for promoting domestication of glasscutters. First, in cooperation with the University of Ghana, a new wild individual will be purchased and bred in the university farm, and the behavioral livestock index will be analyzed using a newly established method. Furthermore, the genome sequence of each individual is decoded, and the gene polymorphism is analyzed. These studies reveal the genetic and behavioral diversity required for domestication.
Links	Mouse Genomics Resource Laboratory (MGRL) Ghana Grasscutter Project
Project Updates	(2021/5/7) Research News