Construction and characterization of a cDNA expression library from the endangered Hu sheep.

Hu sheep is one of the most important species in China; it is also listed as one of the 78 nationally protected domestic animals by the Chinese government in 2000. The construction of cDNA expression library of Hu sheep is of great significance for protecting individual genomes, generating transgenic sheep, and conducting clinical research using cDNA from Hu sheep. In this study, the total RNA from the ear tissue of Hu sheep was extracted, and a cDNA expression library was constructed using the SMART(TM) technique. The titer of amplified cDNA library was 1.09 x 10(10) PFU/mL, the rate of recombination was above 91.6%, and the average size of fragments was 1.1 kb. This study has an important significance for the preservation of Hu sheep resources at the genome level.