Dear Colleagues,

Domestic sheep and goats are valuable farm animals that provide us with meat, milk, and textile fiber. Most of these traits are quantitative and controlled by multiple genes and environments. Elucidating the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of these economic traits is critical to understanding how a trait comes into being. The existence of gene polymorphism contributes to the difference of phenotypic characteristics and susceptibility to environmental factors among different individuals. As for epigenetics, DNA methylation, histone modification, chromatin remodeling, and non-coding RNA are key factors involved in gene expression regulation. The objective of this issue is to explore genetic and epigenetic factors affecting sheep and goat phenotypes. We focus on not only the economic traits of sheep and goats, but also their resistance and adaptability. We welcome original research articles, brief research reports, and reviews covering (but not limited to) the following topics:

• Functional gene variation affecting phenotypes;
• Identification of gene function;
• Gene regulatory network;
• Gene expression regulation;
• Epigenetic regulation (DNA methylation, histone modification, chromatin remodeling and non-coding RNA);
• Genetic factors affecting the resistance and adaptation of sheep and goats.

Dr. Shaobin Li
Guest Editor

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• sheep
• goat
• phenotype
• gene polymorphism
• gene expression regulation
• gene function
• DNA methylation
• chromatin remodeling
• non-coding RNA