The study and analysis of "Domestic Animals" and horses examines the historical domestication, breeding, and management practices that have shaped the role of horses in human society. It also explores the anatomical, physiological, and behavioral characteristics that differentiate horses from other domestic species. Comparative studies often focus on aspects such as nutrition, health management, and the economic and cultural importance of horses relative to other domesticated animals. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the various dimensions of equine domestication, including genetic studies, welfare considerations, and the impact of domestication on horse behavior and physiology.
Ballarin C, Povinelli M, Granato A, Panin M, Corain L, Peruffo A, Cozzi B.The domestic bovine Bos taurus is raised worldwide for meat and milk production, or even for field work. However the functional anatomy of its central nervous system has received limited attention and most of the reported data in textbooks and reviews are derived from single specimens or relatively old literature. Here we report information on the brain of Bos taurus obtained by sampling 158 individuals, 150 of which at local abattoirs and 8 in the dissecting room, these latter subsequently formalin-fixed. Using body weight and fresh brain weight we calculated the Encephalization Quotient (EQ)...
Habibi G, Esmaeilnia K, Hablolvarid MH, Afshari A, Zamen M, Bozorgi S.Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is the cause of persistent tick-borne infection with no symptoms, but the most important problem of EP is due to the persistent carrier state. Carrier animals to Babesia (Theileria) equi (Laveran 1901) and B. caballi (Nuttall, 1910) infestation could be identified by extremely sensitive PCR-based method. The purpose of this study was to identify the causative agents of equine piroplasmosis based on molecular and microscopic assays in equids from Kurdistan Province, Iran. Methods: Thirty one horse and mule blood samples were used with history of living in Kurdistan Pro...
Yang Y, Zhu Q, Liu S, Zhao C, Wu C.The origin of domestic horses in China was a controversial issue and several hypotheses including autochthonous domestication, introduction from other areas, and multiple-origins from both introduction and local wild horse introgression have been proposed, but none of them have been fully supported by DNA data. In the present study, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences of 714 Chinese indigenous horses were analyzed. The results showed that Chinese domestic horses harbor some novel mtDNA haplogroups and suggested that local domestication events may have occurred, but they are not the dominant ha...
Lee JH, Song KD, Kim JM, Leem HK, Park KD.Jeju horse (Natural Monument number 347) is a breed of horse that has experienced long-term isolation and domestication in Jeju Island, South Korea. We evaluated genetic features of this breed, including SNP, by whole-genome resequencing using an Illumina HiSeq 2000. A total of 5,986,852 SNP were identified in 4 Jeju horses and were divided into homozygous and heterozygous SNP (2,357,099 and 3,629,753 SNP, respectively). It revealed that 63.8% of these SNP resided in intergenic regions. Immune response genes with nonsynonymous SNP were overrepresented in Jeju horses as evidenced by Gene Ontolo...
Brubaker L, Udell MA.Horses (Equus caballus) have a rich history in their relationship with humans. Across different cultures and eras they have been utilized for work, show, cultural rituals, consumption, therapy, and companionship and continue to serve in many of these roles today. As one of the most commonly trained domestic animals, understanding how horses learn and how their relationship with humans and other horses impacts their ability to learn has implications for horse welfare, training, husbandry and management. Given that unlike dogs and cats, domesticated horses have evolved from prey animals, the hor...
Davoust B, Maquart M, Roqueplo C, Gravier P, Sambou M, Mediannikov O, Leparc-Goffart I.In Africa, infection with West Nile virus (WNV) is frequent but almost always asymptomatic in humans and equids. The aim of this study was to identify whether any other domestic animal living in the same enzootic locality may be the sentinel of WNV circulation. In northwest Senegal, blood samples were collected from 283 adult domestic animals (136 sheep, 64 horses, 29 donkeys, 29 goats, 14 cattle, and 11 dogs), in three localities near Keur Momar Sarr. Each serum was tested for WNV immunoglobulin G using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The prevalence among donkeys, horses, dogs, goats, catt...
Raudsepp T, Chowdhary BP.The association between chromosomal abnormalities and reduced fertility in domestic animals is well recorded and has been studied for decades. Chromosome aberrations directly affect meiosis, gametogenesis, and the viability of zygotes and embryos. In some instances, balanced structural rearrangements can be transmitted, causing fertility problems in subsequent generations. Here, we aim to give a comprehensive overview of the current status and future prospects of clinical cytogenetics of animal reproduction by focusing on the advances in molecular cytogenetics during the genomics era. We descr...
Kusliy MA, Druzhkova AS, Popova KO, Vorobieva NV, Makunin AI, Yurlova AA, Tishkin AA, Minyaev SS, Trifonov , Graphodatsky AS, Dymova MA, Filipenko ML.From genetic point of view, differences between ancient and modern horses can be reconstructed by using the phylogeographic analysis of mitochondrial genomes and by studying phenotypically important nuclear loci. The variety of modern horse coat colors resulted from artificial selection indicates a high degree of domestication. We have conducted the phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA extracted from bone samples of six ancient horses from Tsaramburial in the Republic of Buryatia, and established that they belong to a haplogroup E by Achilli’s classification. This haplogroup is found a...
André-Fontaine G.Leptospirosis is a common infection in domestic animals. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) is used for serological diagnosis. From 1988 to 2007, the Leptospira Medical and Molecular Bacteriology Laboratory at the Nantes National College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering used the MAT to test serum samples from more than 40,000 cattle, 40,000 pigs, 20,000 horses and 9,500 dogs. Five Leptospira serogroups were prominent, with specific variations within the four animal species: Icterohaemorrhagiae, Australis, Sejroë, Grippotyphosa and Autumnalis. The prevalence and incid...
Rochais C, Henry S, Fureix C, Hausberger M.Some captive/domestic animals respond to confinement by becoming inactive and unresponsive to external stimuli. Human inactivity is one of the behavioural markers of clinical depression, a mental disorder diagnosed by the co-occurrence of symptoms including deficit in selective attention. Some riding horses display 'withdrawn' states of inactivity and low responsiveness to stimuli that resemble the reduced engagement with their environment of some depressed patients. We hypothesized that 'withdrawn' horses experience a depressive-like state and evaluated their level of attention by confronting...
Silva RO, Rupnik M, Diniz AN, Vilela EG, Lobato FC.Clostridium difficile is an emerging enteropathogen responsible for pseudomembranous colitis in humans and diarrhoea in several domestic and wild animal species. Despite its known importance, there are few studies about C. difficile polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ribotypes in Brazil and the actual knowledge is restricted to studies on human isolates. The aim of the study was therefore to compare C. difficile ribotypes isolated from humans and animals in Brazil. Seventy-six C. difficile strains isolated from humans (n = 25), dogs (n = 23), piglets (n = 12), foals (n = 7), calves (n = 7), one c...
Aurich C, Budik S.Early equine pregnancy shares many features with that of more intensively assessed domestic animals species, but there are also characteristic differences. Some of those are poorly understood. Descent of the equine conceptus into the uterine lumen occurs at day 5 to 6 after ovulation but is only possible when the embryo secretes prostaglandin E2. Although maintenance of equine pregnancy probably involves secretion of a conceptus derived anti-luteolytic factor, this agent has not been identified. Rapid growth, conceptus mobility and presence of an acellular capsule at the time of maternal recog...
Miranda J, Mattar S.Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species are important tick-borne pathogens that cause disease in cattle, dogs, horses and humans; with little information available about these agents in Colombia. The aim of this study was to provide molecular evidence for the presence of Anaplasma sp. and Ehrlichia sp. species in ticks collected from horses, dogs and cattle in Cordoba, Colombia. In this study, 1.105 ticks were removed from 226 zebu cattle (Bos indicus), 87 dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and 19 horses (Equus caballus), from different localities of Cordoba. Ticks were identified taxonomically and PCR ass...
Masatani T, Takashima Y, Takasu M, Matsuu A, Amaya T.The present study is the first report that investigated the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in domestic horses in various prefectures of Japan and analyzed risk factors for seropositivity. We performed a latex agglutination test for riding/racing horses from 11 prefectures in Japan (783 samples) and 4 groups of Japanese native horses (254 samples). The total seroprevalence of anti-T. gondii antibody in horses examined in this study was 4.24% (44/1037). As for riding/racing horses, we did not find a statistically different T. gondii seroprevalence between sampling prefectures. In ...
Luethy D, Habecker P, Murphy B, Nolen-Walston R.Pheochromocytoma is the most common adrenal medullary neoplasm of domestic animals, but it is rare in horses. Antemortem diagnosis in horses is difficult, with clinical signs often being vague or non-specific. Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the clinical, laboratory, and pathologic findings of pheochromocytoma in horses. Methods: Thirty-seven horses diagnosed with pheochromocytoma based on postmortem examination from 2007 to 2014. Methods: Retrospective case series. Results: Pheochromocytoma was identified in 37/4094 horses during postmortem examination. Clinical signs c...
Jensen-Jarolim E, Pacios LF, Bianchini R, Hofstetter G, Roth-Walter F.Owners and their domestic animals via skin shedding and secretions, mutually exchange microbiomes, potential pathogens and innate immune molecules. Among the latter especially lipocalins are multifaceted: they may have an immunomodulatory function and, furthermore, they represent one of the most important animal allergen families. The amino acid identities, as well as their structures by superposition modeling were compared among human lipocalins, hLCN1 and hLCN2, and most important animal lipocalin allergens, such as Can f 1, Can f 2 and Can f 4 from dog, Fel d 4 from cats, Bos d 5 from cow's...
Flisikowski K, Flisikowska T, Sikorska A, Perkowska A, Kind A, Schnieke A, Switonski M.Cancer is a complex disease caused in part by predisposing germline gene polymorphisms. Knowledge of carcinogenesis in companion mammals (dog and cat) and some livestock species (pig and horse) is quite advanced. The prevalence of certain cancers varies by breed in these species, suggesting the presence of predisposing genetic variants in susceptible breeds. This review summarizes the present understanding of germline gene polymorphisms, including BRCA1, BRCA2, MC1R, KIT, NRAS and RAD51, associated with predisposition to melanoma, mammary cancer, osteosarcoma and histiocytic sarcoma in dogs, c...
Ezashi T, Yuan Y, Roberts RM.This review deals with the latest advances in the study of embryonic stem cells (ESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from domesticated species, with a focus on pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, horses, cats, and dogs. Whereas the derivation of fully pluripotent ESC from these species has proved slow, reprogramming of somatic cells to iPSC has been more straightforward. However, most of these iPSC depend on the continued expression of the introduced transgenes, a major drawback to their utility. The persistent failure in generating ESC and the dependency of iPSC on ectopic genes probably s...
Abraham G.This review provides an overview of the early and current literature including contributions that highlight the parasympathetic cholinergic receptor systems in domestic animal tissues. Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) belong to the subfamily of G protein-coupled receptors and regulate many fundamental functions of the central and peripheral nervous systems and have been subject to research over at least 40 years. Nonetheless, there are few studies specifying mAChRs in domestic animal tissues. This review focuses on the pharmacology of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) system...
Payne E, DeAraugo J, Bennett P, McGreevy P.This article reviews evidence for the existence of attachment bonds directed toward humans in dog-human and horse-human dyads. It explores each species' alignment with the four features of a typical attachment bond: separation-related distress, safe haven, secure base and proximity seeking. While dog-human dyads show evidence of each of these, there is limited alignment for horse-human dyads. These differences are discussed in the light of the different selection paths of domestic dogs and horses as well as the different contexts in which the two species interact with humans. The role of emoti...
Orlando L.Alongside domestic horses and donkeys, the horse family, also known as equids, comprises six extant wild species of asses and zebras (Figure 1). Equids are extremely well represented in the fossil record, comprising a 55 million-year evolutionary history, punctuated by many episodes of innovation, extinction and migration. Limited to the single genus Equus today, in the Miocene (23.0–5.3 million years ago) the equid family flourished, comprising more than twenty genera. The group originated in Northern America, where the earliest fossil forms have been found, the so-called Hyracotheres, no l...
Li J, Kelly P, Zhang J, Xu C, Wang C.Babesia spp. are tick-borne protozoan hemoparasites and the second most common blood-borne parasites of mammals, in particular domestic animals. We used the Clustal Multiple Alignment program and 18S rRNA gene sequences of 22 Babesia species from GenBank to develop a PCR that could detect a wide variety of Babesia spp. in a single reaction. The pan-Babesia FRET-qPCR we developed reliably detected B. gibsoni, B. canis, B. vogeli, B. microti, B. bovis, and B. divergens under controlled conditions but did not react with closely related species, mainly Hepatozoon americanum, Theileria equi, and To...
Elfving K, Malmsten J, Dalin AM, Nilsson K.Both Rickettsia helvetica and Anaplasma phagocytophilum are common in Ixodes ricinus ticks in Sweden. Knowledge is limited regarding different animal species' competence to act as reservoirs for these organism. For this reason, blood samples were collected from wild cervids (roe deer, moose) and domestic mammals (horse, cat, dog) in central Sweden, and sera were tested using immunofluorescence assay to detect antibodies against spotted fever rickettsiae using Rickettsia helvetica as antigen. Sera with a titer ≥1:64 were considered as positive, and 23.1% (104/450) of the animals scored positi...
Caloni F, Cortinovis C, Rivolta M, Davanzo F.A retrospective study was carried out by reviewing all suspected cases of domestic animal poisoning attributed to pesticides, reported to the Milan Poison Control Centre (MPCC) between January 2011 and December 2013. During this period, pesticides were found to be responsible for 37.3% of all suspected poisoning enquiries received (815). The most commonly species involved was the dog (71.1% of calls) followed by the cat (15.8%), while a limited number of cases involved horses, goats and sheep. Most cases of exposure (47.1%) resulted in mild to moderate clinical signs. The outcome was reported ...
Mirams M, Ayodele BA, Tatarczuch L, Henson FM, Pagel CN, Mackie EJ.During the early stages of articular osteochondrosis, cartilage is retained in subchondral bone, but the pathophysiology of this condition of growing humans and domestic animals is poorly understood. A subtractive hybridization study was undertaken to compare gene expression between the cartilage of early experimentally induced equine osteochondrosis lesions and control cartilage. Of the many putative differentially expressed genes identified, eight were confirmed by quantitative PCR analysis as differentially expressed, in addition to those already known to be associated with early lesions. G...
Brubaker AS, Coss RG.Habituation to humans was an essential component of horse (Equus caballus ferus) domestication, with the nondomestication of zebras (Equus quagga) possibly reflecting an adaptive constraint on habituation. We present the human hunting hypothesis, arguing that ancestral humans hunted African animals, including zebras, long enough to promote a persistent wariness of humans, whereas a briefer period of hunting horses in Central Asia influenced by glacial cycles was unlikely to produce an equally persistent wariness. An alternative habituation to humans hypothesis, prompted by field observations, ...
BMC research notesSeptember 2, 2015
Volume 8 400 doi: 10.1186/s13104-015-1357-8
Digafe RT, Kifelew LG, Mechesso AF.Rabies is a fatal animal disease of significant public health importance. Domestic dogs are the main reservoir and transmitter of this disease particularly in developing countries. Even though rabies is a highly fatal disease, it is a preventable disease. Community awareness about rabies is one of the key components for prevention. This study describes the knowledge, attitudes and practices of a rural community in Gondar Zuria District, Ethiopia. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from March to June, 2013. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data through face to face...
Seyedmousavi S, Guillot J, Arné P, de Hoog GS, Mouton JW, Melchers WJ, Verweij PE.The importance of aspergillosis in humans and various animal species has increased over the last decades. Aspergillus species are found worldwide in humans and in almost all domestic animals and birds as well as in many wild species, causing a wide range of diseases from localized infections to fatal disseminated diseases, as well as allergic responses to inhaled conidia. Some prevalent forms of animal aspergillosis are invasive fatal infections in sea fan corals, stonebrood mummification in honey bees, pulmonary and air sac infection in birds, mycotic abortion and mammary gland infections in ...
Acosta Ida C, Da Costa AP, Gennari SM, Marcili A.Trypanosoma and Leishmania infections affect wild and domestic animals and human populations. The growing process of deforestation and urbanization of Atlantic Rainforest areas has given rise to introduction of humans and domestic animals to the sylvatic cycles of Trypanosoma and Leishmania species. Serological, parasitological, and molecular surveys among wild and domestic animals in the Corrego do Veado Biological Reserve, which is an Atlantic Rainforest fragment in the state of Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil, were evaluated. In total, 154 wild animals of 25 species and 67 domestic ani...
Meyer W, Schoennagel B, Kacza J, Busche R, Hornickel IN, Hewicker-Trautwein M, Schnapper A.We studied the esophageal epithelium for keratinization characteristics from samples of domesticated mammals of three nutrition groups (herbivores: horse, cattle, sheep; omnivores: pig, dog, rat; carnivores: cat) using histochemistry (keratins, disulfides), sulfur measurements, and cryo-SEM. Keratins were found in all esophageal layers of all species, except for the equine Stratum corneum. The positive reaction staining of Pan-keratin was remarkable, but decreased in intensity toward the outer layers, whereas in the pig and cat, staining was confined to the corneal layer. The herbivores reveal...
Krebs JW, Rupprecht CE, Childs JE.During 1999, 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico reported 7,067 cases of rabies in nonhuman animals to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a decrease of 11.2% from 7,961 cases in nonhuman animals and 1 case in a human being reported in 1998. More than 91% (6,466 cases) were in wild animals, whereas 8.5% (601 cases) were in domestic species (compared with 92.4% in wild animals and 7.6% in domestic species in 1998). No cases of rabies were reported in human beings in 1999. Decreases were evident in all major species groups, with the exception of cattle, sheep/goats, ...
Abdullah HHAM, Elbayoumy MK, Allam AM, Ashry HM, Abdel-Shafy S.Vector-borne bacterial diseases (VBBD) are a diverse group of tropical and subtropical zoonotic diseases. This study investigated the possibility of domestic animals to carry certain vector-borne bacterial microorganisms (VBBMs), as well as the presence of these targeted DNAs in their ectoparasites in different localities of Egypt using molecular analyses. For this study, 234 animal hosts (112 cattle, 38 sheep, 28 goats, 26 buffaloes, 22 donkeys, and 8 horses) in addition to 115 ectoparasites (95 ticks and 20 lice) were investigated for the molecular detection of Bartonella spp., Borrelia spp....
Warmuth VM, Campana MG, Eriksson A, Bower M, Barker G, Manica A.Animal exchange networks have been shown to play an important role in determining gene flow among domestic animal populations. The Silk Road is one of the oldest continuous exchange networks in human history, yet its effectiveness in facilitating animal exchange across large geographical distances and topographically challenging landscapes has never been explicitly studied. Horses are known to have been traded along the Silk Roads; however, extensive movement of horses in connection with other human activities may have obscured the genetic signature of the Silk Roads. To investigate the role o...
Hammerschmitt ME, Henker LC, Lichtler J, da Costa FVA, Soares RM, Llano HAB, Pavarini SP.Sarcocystis neurona is the main agent associated with equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). Apart from horses, S. neurona has been occasionally described causing neurologic disease in several other terrestrial animals as well as mortality in marine mammals. Herein, we describe the clinical, pathological, and molecular findings of a fatal case of S. neurona-associated meningoencephalitis in a domestic cat. The causing agent was analyzed by multilocus genotyping, confirming the presence of S. neurona DNA in the tissue samples of the affected animal. Significant molecular differences were fou...
Godsey MS, Amoo F, Yuill TM, Defoliart GR.A serologic survey and experimental virus transmission studies were done to assess the role of domestic animals as amplifier hosts of La Crosse (LACV) and Jamestown Canyon (JCV) viruses. Serum from 319 cows, 88 dogs, 122 equines, 47 swine, 10 goats, and 4 cats were tested for neutralizing antibody to LACV, JCV, trivittatus (TVTV), and snowshoe hare (SSHV) viruses. Antibody prevalences of LACV, TVTV, and SSHV were less than 10% in all species. Antibody to JCV was detected in all species except cats. Prevalence ranged from 10% in goats and swine to 29% in dogs. No age-associated trends in JCV pr...
Choubisa SL.Relative susceptibility to fluoride (F) toxicosis in the form of osteo-dental fluorosis was observed in an observational survey of 2,747 mature and 887 immature domestic animals of diverse species living in areas with naturally fluoridated (>1.5 ppm F) drinking water. These animals included buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis), cattle (Bos taurus), camels (Camelus dromedarius), donkeys (Equus asinus), horses (Equus caballus), goats (Capra hircus), and sheep (Ovis aries). Of these mature and immature animals, 899 (32.7 %) and 322 (36.3 %) showed evidence of dental fluorosis with varying grades, r...
Dauphin G, Legay V, Sailleau C, Smondack S, Hammoumi S, Zientara S.Borna disease virus (BDV) is an enveloped, non-segmented negative-stranded RNA virus which belongs to the Bornaviridae family. BDV is an aetiological agent of encephalitis in horses, sheep and several other vertebrate species. In order to extend our knowledge about the presence of BDV in France, a study based on BDV RNA detection by RT-nested-PCR was done with 196 animal tissues: 171 brain samples collected from different animal species (75 horses, 59 foxes, 31 cattle, 4 dogs, 1 sheep, 1 roe deer) and 25 horse blood samples. An RNA internal standard molecule was constructed and was co-amplifie...
Aguilar-Montes de Oca S, Montes-de-Oca-Jiménez R, Carlos Vázquez-Chagoyán J, Barbabosa-Pliego A, Eliana Rivadeneira-Barreiro P....Peptides constitute an alternative and interesting option to develop treatments, vaccines, and diagnostic tools as they demonstrate their scope in several health aspects; as proof of this, commercial peptides for humans and animals are available on the market and used daily. This review aimed to know the role of peptides in the field of veterinary diagnosis, and include peptide-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (pELISA), lateral flow devices, and peptide latex agglutination tests that have been developed to detect several pathogens including viruses and bacteria of health and production ...
Krebs JW, Mondul AM, Rupprecht CE, Childs JE.During 2000, 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico reported 7,364 cases of rabies in nonhuman animals and 5 cases in human beings to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an increase of 4.3% from 7,067 cases in nonhuman animals reported in 1999. Ninety-three percent (6,855 cases) were in wild animals, whereas 6.9% (509 cases) were in domestic species (compared wth 91.5% in wild animals and 8.5% in domestic species in 1999). Compared with cases reported in 1999, the number of cases reported in 2000 increased among bats, dogs, foxes, skunks, and sheep/goats and decreased...
Yoon SH, Kim J, Shin D, Cho S, Kwak W, Lee HK, Park KD, Kim H.The Korean native horse (Jeju horse) is one of the most important animals in Korean historical, cultural, and economical viewpoints. In the early 1980s, the Jeju horse was close to extinction. The aim of this study is to explore the phylogenomics of Korean native horse focusing on spatio-temporal dynamics. We determined complete mitochondrial genome sequences for the first Korean native (n = 6) and additional Mongolian (n = 2) horses. Those sequences were analyzed together with 143 published ones using Bayesian coalescent approach as well as three different phylogenetic analysis method...
Misdorp W.The literature on congenital tumours and tumour-like lesions in horses was reviewed. Included were embryonic tumours and teratomas. Special attention was paid to the ubiquitous adenomatous hyperplasia of the placenta. It appears that temporal teratomas, interstitial hamartomas and placental adenomatous hyperplasia are unique in the horse. Benign teratoma of the undescended testis is far more frequent in the horse than in other species. In horses, as in calves and pigs, congenital skin tumours were of papillomatous, vascular and melanocytic types. The sporadic occurrence of congenital tumours i...
The Journal of heredityOctober 20, 2019
Volume 110, Issue 7 769-781 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esz032
Han H, Bryan K, Shiraigol W, Bai D, Zhao Y, Bao W, Yang S, Zhang W, MacHugh DE, Dugarjaviin M, Hill EW.The Mongolian horse is one of the oldest extant horse populations and although domesticated, most animals are free-ranging and experience minimal human intervention. As an ancient population originating in one of the key domestication centers, the Mongolian horse may play a key role in understanding the origins and recent evolutionary history of horses. Here we describe an analysis of high-density genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data in 40 globally dispersed horse populations (n = 895). In particular, we have focused on new results from Chinese Mongolian horses (n = 100) that ...
Downey BR.Neuroendocrine and endocrine factors involved in the regulation of reproductive cycles in domestic animals are discussed. Although research data from many species are considered, emphasis is placed on their relevance for the cow, sow, ewe and, to a lesser extent, the mare. Literature cited is not designed to be complete, but rather to be representative of the large volume of material which has been written on the subject.Gonadotropin-releasing hormone is synthesized and secreted in response to various exteroceptive stimuli, but both its release and its effects on the anterior pituitary are mod...
Dybicz M, Perkowski K, Baltaza W, Padzik M, Sędzikowska A, Chomicz L.The protozoan is considered to be a human specific flagellate of the oral cavity, found in humans with poor oral hygiene and advanced periodontal disease. Morphological variability and great similarity between species occurring in humans and animals, complicate the specific identification of trichomonads, using microscopic examination and other standard parasitological techniques. Objective: The aim of the study was to search for and identify in domesticated animals using molecular methods. The obtained data were assessed in terms of potential effects of a spread of the species deriving from...
Miranda J, Mattar S.Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species are important tick-borne pathogens that cause disease in cattle, dogs, horses and humans; with little information available about these agents in Colombia. The aim of this study was to provide molecular evidence for the presence of Anaplasma sp. and Ehrlichia sp. species in ticks collected from horses, dogs and cattle in Cordoba, Colombia. In this study, 1.105 ticks were removed from 226 zebu cattle (Bos indicus), 87 dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and 19 horses (Equus caballus), from different localities of Cordoba. Ticks were identified taxonomically and PCR ass...
Cloonan MJ, O'Neill BJ, Vale TG, Carter IW, Williams JE.The sera of 468 blood donors and 63 domestic animals, collected from the south coast of New South Wales, were tested for the presence of antibodies to Ross River virus. Antibodies were detected in 7% of human sera, 25% of cow sera and 65% of horse sera. Using the blood donors as 'human sentinels', seroconversions were demonstrated in two donors from the Nowra-Kiama region and from a patient in the same area; none of the three had been outside of the study area during the period of seroconversion or at the time of infection. Of the 15 seropositive horses, 6 (40%) had lived continuously since bi...
Puig L, Castellá G, Cabañes FJ.Malassezia pachydermatis is part of the normal cutaneous microbiota of wild and domestic carnivores. However, under certain conditions this yeast can overproliferate and cause several diseases in its host, mainly otitis and dermatitis in dogs. The aim of this study was to conduct a molecular characterization of M. pachydermatis isolates from healthy and diseased domestic animals, in order to assess the molecular diversity and phylogenetic relationship within this species. The large subunit (LSU) and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of ribosomal RNA, chitin synthase 2 (CHS2) and β-tubulin...
Saengtienchai A, Ikenaka Y, Nakayama SM, Mizukawa H, Kakehi M, Bortey-Sam N, Darwish WS, Tsubota T, Terasaki M, Poapolathep A, Ishizuka M.Interspecific differences in xenobiotic metabolism are a key to determining relative sensitivities of animals to xenobiotics. However, information on domesticated livestock, companion animals, and captive and free-ranging wildlife is incomplete. The present study evaluated interspecific differences in phase II conjugation using pyrene as a nondestructive biomarker of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their metabolites have carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting effects in humans and wildlife and can have serious consequences. The authors collec...
Gür S, Gürçay M, Seyrek A.Bovine enteroviruses (BEV) are members of Enterovirus genus of the family Picornaviridae. BEV1 has a broad host spectrum, including humans. The virus usually causes subclinical infection, but fatal/severe cases have also been reported in different animal species. There is quite limited data regarding BEV1 in humans. The purpose of this study is to investigate human infection and to identify possible risk factors for viral exposure. For this purpose, blood serum samples (n=1,526) were collected from a city center and nearby villagers simultaneously from humans and farm animals in Elazig provinc...
Mosher CM, Court MH.Pharmacogenomics is the study of the impact of genetic variation on drug effects, with the ultimate goal of achieving "personalised medicine". Since the completion of the Human Genome Project, great strides have been made towards the goal of personalised dosing of drugs in people, as exemplified by the development of gene-guided dosing of the anticoagulant drug, warfarin. Although the pharmacogenomics of domestic animals is still at an early stage of development, there is great potential for advances in the coming years as the direct result of complete genome sequences currently being derived ...
Peña FJ, Martín-Cano FE, Becerro-Rey L, Ortega-Ferrusola C, Gaitskell-Phillips G, da Silva-Álvarez E, Gil MC.The mammalian ejaculate is very well suited to proteomics studies. As such, research concerning sperm proteomics is offering a huge amount of new information on the biology of spermatozoa. Among domestic animals, horses represent a species of special interest, in which reproductive technologies and a sizeable market of genetic material have grown exponentially in the last decade. Studies using proteomic approaches have been conducted in recent years, showing that proteomics is a potent tool to dig into the biology of the stallion spermatozoa. The aim of this review is to present an overview of...
Liu X, Peng Y, Zhang X, Chen W, Chen Y, Wei L, Zhu Q, Khan MZ, Wang C.Herbivorous livestock, such as cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and donkeys, play a crucial role in agricultural production and possess remarkable resilience to extreme environmental conditions, driven by complex genetic mechanisms. Recent advancements in high-throughput sequencing, genome assembly, and environmental data integration have enabled a deeper understanding of the genetic basis of their environmental adaptation. This review identifies key genes associated with high-altitude, heat, cold, and drought adaptation, providing insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying these traits. B...
Ciaputa R, Gach J, Baranowski K, Dzimira S, Janus I, Kandefer-Gola M, Żebrowski K, Nowak M.An analysis of samples originating from domestic and exotic animals from Lower Silesia but also from other parts of Poland was carried out based on research conducted in 2014-2017. Unassigned: The materials used for the study were 11,338 tumour samples taken in vivo during surgery and as biopsies and posthumously during necropsies. They were sent to the Department of Pathology at Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences for histopathological diagnosis. Unassigned: The largest group were canine tumours, of which there were 9,745 (85.95%), followed by feline tumours, totalling 1,39...
Perry BD, Schmidtmann ET, Rice RM, Hansen JW, Fletcher M, Turner EC, Robl MG, Hahn NE.A serological study of antibodies to Ehrlichia risticii was carried out on 10 species of wild and domestic mammals found on or near 21 horse farms in an area of the USA in which Potomac horse fever is endemic. No antibodies were found in 133 peridomestic rodents (Norway rats and house mice), nor in 108 wild rodents (white-footed mice and meadow voles) captured on farms. Three of the six domestic animal species examined, cats, pigs and a goat, showed serological evidence of exposure to E risticii. Seropositive animals were detected on three of the 21 premises. The eight seropositive cats (of 48...
de Paz Cabello P, Chamorro CA, Sandoval J, Fernandez M.The mechanical papillae of the horse and cow were studied by scanning electron microscopy in order to determine their morphostructural characteristics and the differences between the two species. The horse has only thin, small and interlaced filiform papillae, while the cow shows robust and more ordered filiform papillae. Furthermore, the cow tongue presents conical and lenticular papillae surrounded by a papillary groove. A characteristic distribution of stratified scales and channeled tracts is observed in conical and lenticular papillae but not in the filiform papillae. The morphostructural...
