Centre for Integrative Genetics (CIGENE)

Professor, Assistant Director

Phone: +47-6496-5288

Present positions: Norwegian University of Life Sciences (UMB) and Centre for Integrative Genetics (CIGENE). 

Degrees: Dr. agric. in Molecular Genetics, UMB.

Research areas: Livestock & marine genomics.

Professional background: Researcher at the Department of Animal Science and Aquaculture, UMB (1993-96); Associate professor in molecular genetics at the Department of Animal Science, UMB (1996-99); Sabbatical leave at Department of Biological Sciences University of Southern California, USA (1997-98); Professor in molecular genetics at the Department of Animal Science, UMB (1999-).

Current doctoral students: Silje Brenna Hansen (salmon genomics), Marte Sodeland (bovine genomics)

Selected publications (2001-2009):

• Grindflek E et al. (2001). Detection of quantitative trait loci for meat quality in a commercial slaughter pig cross. Mamm. Genome 12: 299-304.
• Sundvold I and Lien S (2001). Identification of a novel peroxisome proliferator- activated receptor (PPAR) γ in man and transactivation by the nuclear receptor RORα1. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 287:383-390.
• Klungland H et al. (2001). Quantitative trait loci affecting clinical mastitis and somatic cell count in dairy cattle. Mamm. Genome 12:837-842.
• Gomez-Raya L et al. (2002). The use of genetic markers to measure genomic response to natural and artificial selection in livestock. Genetics 162:1381-1388.
• Olsen, HG et al. (2005). Mapping of a Milk Production QTL to a 420 kb Region on Bovine Chromosome 6. Genetics 169: 275-283. 
• Hayes B et al. (2006). Effects on production traits of haplotypes among casein genes in Norwegian goats and evidence for a site of preferential recombination. Genetics 174:455-464.
• Opsal M et al. (2006). Genomic organization and transcript profiling of the bovine Toll-Like Receptor gene cluster TLR6-TLR1-TLR10. Gene 384:45-50.
• Hayes, B. Lærdahl, J., Lien, S, Moen, T, Davidson, W., Koop, B., Adzhubei, A., Hindar, K. Høyheim, B. (2007). An extensive resource of single nucleotide polymorphism markers associated with Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) expressed sequences. Aquaculture 265: 82-90.
• Hayes, B., K. Nilsen, P. Berg, E. Grindflek, S. Lien. (2007). SNP detection exploiting multiple sources of redundancy in large EST collections improves validation rates. Bioinformatics 23:1692-1693.
• Olsen H.G., H. Nilsen, B. Hayes, P.R. Berg, M. Svendsen, S. Lien & T.H.E. Meuwissen (2007). Genetic support for a quantitative trait nucleotide in the ABCG2 gene affecting milk composition. BMC Genetics 8:32.
• Martens, H., Kohler. A., Afseth, N.K., Wold, J.P., Hersleth, M., Berget, I., Ådnøy, T., Skaugen, M., Isaksson, T., Vegarud, G., Criscione, A., Mevik, B.H., Frøst, M.B., Randby, Å.T., Prestløkken, E., Berg, P., Kent, M.P., Lien, S., Omholt, S.W. (2007). High-throughput measurements for functional genomics of milk. Journal of Animal and Feed Sciences, 16, Suppl. 1:172–189.
• Lillehammer, M., M. Arnyasi, S. Lien, H.G. Olsen, E. Sehested, J. Ødegård & T.H.E. Meuwissen (2007). A Genome Scan for QTL by Environment Interactions for Production Traits. JDS 90:3482-3489.
• Moen, T., Sonesson A., Hayes B., Lien S., Munck H. & Meuwissen, T.H.E. (2007). Mapping of a quantitative trait locus for resistance against infectious salmon anaemia in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): comparing survival analysis with analysis on affected/resistant data BMC Genetics 8:53.
• Moe, M., T.H.E. Meuwissen; S. Lien, C. Bendixen, I. Berget, H. Tajet, & E. Grindflek (2007). cDNA microarray for identification of gene expression profiles in testis of pigs with extreme levels of fat androstenone BMC Genomics 8:405.
• Hayes, B., Lien S., Nilsen H., Olsen H.G., Berg P., Maceachern S. & Meuwissen T.H.E. (2008). The origin of selection signatures on bovine chromosome six. Animal Genetics 39:105-11
• Nilsen, H., Hayes B., Berg P., Roseth A., Sundsaasen K., Nilsen, K. & Lien S. (2008). Construction of a dense SNP map for bovine chromosome 6 to assist the assembly of the bovine genome sequence. Animal Genetics 39:97-104.
• Opsal M., Lien S., Brenna-Hansen S., Olsen H.G. & Våge D.I. (2008). Construction and analysis of linkage maps covering TLR2 and TLR4 reveals no relationships between these gene regions and clinical mastitis in Norwegian Red cattle. J Anim Breed Genet 125: 110-118.
• Moen, T., Hayes B., Nilsen F., Delghandi M., Fjalestad K.T., Fevolden S.E., Berg P.R. & Lien S. (2008). Identification and characterisation of novel SNP markers in Atlantic cod: evidence of directional selection at gene-residing SNPs. BMC Genetics 9:18.
• Samulin J., Lien S., Grindflek E., Berget I., Ruyter B., Sundvold S. (2008). Depot specific differences during adipogenesis of porcine stromal-vascular cells. Cell Biol Int. 32:525-531.
• Charlier C., W. Coppieters, J.S. Agerholm, N. Cambisano, E. Carta, D. Desmecht, M. Dive, C. Fasquelle, J.-C.Frennet, R. Hanset, X. Hubin, C. Jorgensen, L. Karim, K.Harvey, B.R. Pearce, F. Rollin, P. Simon, N. Tama, H. Nie, S. Vandeputte, S. Lien, M.P. Kent, M. Longeri, M. Fredholm, R. J. Harvey and M. Georges (2008). Highly effective SNP-based association mapping and management of recessive defects in livestock. Nature Genetics 40: 449-454.
• Moen, T., B. Hayes, M. Baranski, P. R. Berg, S. Kjoglum, B.F. Koop, W.S. Davidson, S.W. Omholt & S. Lien (2008). A linkage map of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) based on EST-derived SNP markers. BMC Genomics 9:223.
• Lillehammer M., Goddard M.E., Nilsen H., Sehested E., Olsen H.G., Lien S., Meuwissen T.H. (2008). Quantitative Trait Locus-by-Environment Interaction for Milk Yield Traits on Bos taurus Autosome 6. Genetics. 179:1539-1546.
• Moe M., Lien S., Bendixen C., Hedegaard J., Hornshøj H., Berget I., Meuwissen T.H.E. & Grindflek E. (2008). Gene expression profiles in liver of pigs with extreme high and low levels of androstenone. BMC Veterinary Research 4:29.
• Boulding, E.G., M. Culling, B. Glebe, P.R. Berg, S. Lien & T. Moen. Conservation genomics of Atlantic salmon: SNPs associated with QTLs for adaptive traits in parr from four trans-Atlantic backcrosses. Heredity 101: 381–391.
• Olsen H.G., Meuwissen T.H.E, Nilsen, H., Svendsen M., & Lien S. (2008). Fine mapping of QTL for calving ease on BTA6 in Norwegian Red cattle. J. Dairy Sci. 91(11): 4312-4322.
• Samulin J., I. Berget, S. Lien, H. Sundvold (2008). Differential expression of fatty acid binding proteins during porcine adipogenesis. Comp Biochem Physiol B Biochem Mol Biol. 151:147-52.
• Danzmann, R.G., E. A. Davidson, M.M. Ferguson, K. G., B.F. Koop, B. Hoyheim, S. Lien, K. P. Lubieniecki, H. K. Moghadam, J. Park, R. B. Phillips & W. S. Davidson (2008). Distribution of ancestral proto-Actinopterygian chromosome arms within the genomes of 4R-derivative salmonid fishes (Rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon) BMC Genomics 9:557.
• Nilsen H., H.G. Olsen, B. Hayes, E. Sehested, M. Svendsen, T. Nome, T.H.E. Meuwissen and S. Lien (2009). Casein haplotypes and their association with milk production traits in Norwegian Red cattle. Genetics Selection Evolution 41:24
• The Bovine Genome Sequencing and Analysis Consortium (2009). The Genome Sequence of Taurine Cattle: A window to ruminant biology and evolution. Science 324: 522-528.
• The Bovine HapMap Consortium (2009). Genome Wide Survey of SNP Variation Uncovers the Genetic Structure of Cattle Breeds. Science 324: 528-532
• Samulin, J., P. Berg, H. Sundvold, E. Bergseth and S. Lien (2009). Expression of DLK1 splice variants during porcine adipocyte development in vitro and in vivo Anim. Genet. 40:239-241.
• Arnyasi M., Komlósi I., Lien S., Czeglédi L., Nagy S. and Jávor A. (2009). Searching for DNA markers for milk production and composition on chromosome 6 in sheep. J Anim Breed Genet. 126:142-147.
• Nilsen, H., Olsen H.G., Hayes B., Nome T., Sehested E., Svendsen M., Meuwissen T.H.E, & Lien S.. Characterisation of a QTL region affecting clinical mastitis and protein yield on BTA6. Anim. Genet. 40(5):701-712.
• Liu Y, X Qin, X-ZH Song, H Jiang, Y Shen, KJ Durbin, S Lien, MP Kent, Y Ren, L Zhang, E Sodergren, P Havlak, KC Worley, G Weinstock, RA Gibbs (2009). Bos taurus genome assembly. BMC Genomics 10:180
• Moe M, Lien S, Aasmundstad T, Meuwissen TH, Hansen MH, Bendixen C, Grindflek E. (2009). Association between SNPs within candidate genes and compounds related to boar taint and reproduction. BMC Genet. 10:32
• Lorenz, S., S. Brenna-Hansen, T. Moen, A. Roseth, W. S. Davidson, S. W. Omholt, S. Lien. BAC-based upgrading and physical integration of a genetic SNP map in Atlantic salmon. Anim. Genet., (In press.)
• Samulin J., E. Grindflek, I. Berget, S. Lien, H. Sundvold. (2009). Changes in lipid metabolism associated gene transcripts during porcine adipogenesis. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. B. Biochem. Mol. Biol. (In press).
• Luan T., Woolliams J.A., Lien S., Kent M., Svendsen M., Meuwissen T.H. (2009). The Accuracy of Genomic Selection in Norwegian Red Cattle Assessed by Cross Validation. Genetics (In press).
• Heuser, K., E.A. Nagelhus, E. Taubøll, U. Indahl, P.R. Berg, S. Lien, S. Nakken, L. Gjerstad, O.P. Ottersen. Variants of the genes encoding AQP4 and Kir4.1 are associated with subgroups of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurology (In press.)
• Olsen, H.G., B. Hayes, M. Svendsen and S. Lien. A whole-genome scan for QTLs affecting stillbirth and calving ease using association analysis. Animal Genetics (In press).
• Grindflek, E., I. Berget, M. Moe, P. Oeth and S. Lien. Differential expression profile in testicle of candidate genes in relation to androstenone level in pigs. Journal of Animal Science (Subm.).
• Culling, M., K. Patterson, H. Freamo, P.R. Berg, S. Lien & E.G. Boulding. A Snippet of Local Adaptation: 320 SNPs in ESTs reveal Diversifying Selection in Endangered Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) Populations from Canada. Molecular Ecology (Subm.)
• Glover, K.A., M.M. Hansen, S. Lien, T.D. Als, B. Høyheim and Ø. Skaala. A comparison of SNP and STR loci for delineating population structure and performing individual genetic assignment. BMC Genetics (Subm.)