Genes in horses are segments of DNA that encode the biological instructions necessary for the development, functioning, and reproduction of equine species. These genetic sequences influence a wide range of traits, including coat color, speed, endurance, and susceptibility to diseases. Genetic research in horses focuses on identifying specific genes and genetic markers associated with these traits, as well as understanding the inheritance patterns and genetic diversity within and between horse breeds. Studies in equine genetics contribute to breeding programs, disease prevention strategies, and the overall understanding of horse biology. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the identification, function, and implications of genes in equine health and performance.
Wutke S, Andersson L, Benecke N, Sandoval-Castellanos E, Gonzalez J, Hallsson JH, Lõugas L, Magnell O, Morales-Muniz A, Orlando L, Pálsdóttir AH....Horseback riding is the most fundamental use of domestic horses and has had a huge influence on the development of human societies for millennia. Over time, riding techniques and the style of riding improved. Therefore, horses with the ability to perform comfortable gaits (e.g. ambling or pacing), so-called 'gaited' horses, have been highly valued by humans, especially for long distance travel. Recently, the causative mutation for gaitedness in horses has been linked to a substitution causing a premature stop codon in the DMRT3 gene (DMRT3_Ser301STOP) [1]. In mice, Dmrt3 is expressed in spinal...
Knych HK, Harrison LM, Steinmetz SJ, Chouicha N, Kass PH.Clenbuterol, a beta2-adrenergic receptor agonist, is used therapeutically to treat respiratory conditions in the horse. However, by virtue of its mechanism of action it has been suggested that clenbuterol may also have repartitioning affects in horses and as such the potential to affect performance. Clenbuterol decreases the percent fat and increases fat-free mass following high dose administration in combination with intense exercise in horses. In the current study, microarray analysis and real-time PCR were used to study the temporal effects of low and high dose chronic clenbuterol administr...
White SH, Johnson SE, Bobel JM, Warren LK.Untrained Thoroughbred horses (6 mares and 6 geldings; 11 yr [SE 1] and 565 kg [SE 11]) were used to evaluate antioxidant gene expression and enzyme activity in blood and skeletal muscle in response to prolonged exercise after receiving 2 levels of dietary selenium for 36 d: 0.1 (CON; = 6) or 0.3 mg/kg DM (SEL; = 6). Horses were individually fed 1.6% BW coastal bermudagrass hay, 0.4% BW whole oats, and a mineral/vitamin premix containing no Se. Sodium selenite was added to achieve either 0.1 or 0.3 mg Se/kg DM in the total diet. On d 35, horses underwent 2 h of submaximal exercise in a free-st...
BMC research notesJuly 19, 2016
Volume 9 353 doi: 10.1186/s13104-016-2161-9
Tarlinton RE, Alder L, Moreton J, Maboni G, Emes RD, Tötemeyer S.Toll like receptors are one of the major innate immune system pathogen recognition systems. There is little data on the expression of the TLR10 member of this family in the horse. Results: This paper describes the genetic structure of the Equine TLR10 gene and its RNA expression in a range of horse tissues. It describes the phylogenetic analysis of the Equine TLR1,6,10,2 annotations in the horse genome, firmly identifying them in their corresponding gene clades compared to other species and firmly placing the horse gene with other TLR10 genes from odd-toed ungulates. Additional 3' transcript e...
Sevane N, Dunner S, Boado A, Cañon J.Equine osteochondrosis (OC) is a frequent developmental orthopaedic disease with high economic impact on the equine industry and may lead to premature retirement of the animal as a result of chronic pain and lameness. The genetic background of OC includes different genes affecting several locations; however, these genetic associations have been tested in only one or few populations, lacking the validation in others. The aim of this study was to identify the genetic determinants of OC in the Spanish Purebred horse breed. For that purpose, we used a candidate gene approach to study the associati...
Köhne M, Ille N, Erber R, Adib Razavi MS, Walter I, Aurich C.Progestin concentration in plasma during the early luteal phase is crucial for endometrial function and conceptus development. We hypothesized that periovulatory gonadotrophin treatment via support of luteal function affects endometrial gene expression in horses. Effect of age was analyzed as well. Shetland mares (n = 8, age 4-25 years) were assigned to the following treatments during five consecutive cycles in alternating order following a cross-over design: treatment hCG/-: preovulatory injection of hCG, but no gonadotrophin injection at detection of ovulation, treatment -/hCG: no preovulat...
Rotkina AS, Pronina IV, Lazarev VN, Akhaev DN, Baskova IP.The purpose. Identifying the capacity of the medicinal leech novel original recombinant thrombolytic preparation Destabilase-Lysozyme-2 to inhibit the blood platelet aggregation. Gene of destabilase-lysozyme. ds2 (mlDL-Ds2 ), was cloned in E.coli cells. Recombinant protein was isolated in denaturing conditions using metal-chelate chromatography followed by denaturation of the polypeptide by rapid dilution in exact accordance with the procedure described by Kurdyumov A.S. et al. ( 2016, Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry, v.42, s. 42-52). Blood was collected from the jugular vein of 18 hor...
Ghosh M, Cho HW, Park JW, Choi JY, Chung YH, Sharma N, Singh AK, Kim NE, Mongre RK, Huynh D, Jiao ZJ, Do KT, Lee HK, Song KD, Cho BW, Jeong D.The athletic abilities of the horse serve as a valuable model to understand the physiology and molecular mechanisms of adaptive responses to exercise. We analyzed differentially expressed genes in triceps brachii muscle tissues collected from Eonjena Taeyang and Jigusang Seryeok Thoroughbred horses and their co-expression networks in a large-scale RNA-sequence dataset comparing expression before and after exercise. High-quality horse transcriptome data were generated, with over 22 million 90-bp pair-end reads. By comparing the annotations, we found that MYH3, MPZ, and PDE8B genes in Eonjena Ta...
Braid LR, Hu WG, Davies JE, Nagata LP.: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are being exploited as gene delivery vectors for various disease and injury therapies. We provide proof-of-concept that engineered MSCs can provide a useful, effective platform for protection against infectious disease. Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen affecting humans and equines and can be used in bio-warfare. No licensed vaccine or antiviral agent currently exists to combat VEEV infection in humans. Direct antibody administration (passive immunity) is an effective, but short-lived, method of providing immediate prote...
Liu ZQ, Xia J, Wang GL, Kuermanali N.Hyalomma asiaticum tick, an important ectozoic parasite causes tickle, pain, anemia, weight loss, and paralysis in its hosts, which include humans, cattle, sheep, horses, camels, and hares. The 4D8 gene can be a potential vaccine candidate antigen for H. asiaticum. In the present study, we cloned and expressed the 4D8 gene of H. asiaticum from Xinjiang Province. Primers were designed according to the H. asiaticum tick 4D8 gene sequence available in GenBank. The gene was amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and the fragments were subcloned into the prokaryotic expression...
Griffon DJ, Cho J, Wagner JR, Charavaryamath C, Wei J, Wagoner Johnson A.Chitosan opens new perspectives in regenerative medicine as it enhances the properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) through formation of spheroids. Hypoxia has also been proposed to enhance stemness and survival of MSCs after in vivo implantation. These characteristics are relevant to the development of an off-the-shelf source of allogenic cells for regenerative therapy of tendinopathies. Umbilical cord-derived MSCs (UCM-MSCs) offer an abundant source of immature and immunoprivileged stem cells. In this study, equine UCM-MSCs (eqUCM-MSCs) conditioned for 3 and 7 days on chitosan films at 5...
Aleksic D, Blaschke L, Mißbach S, Hänske J, Weiß W, Handler J, Zimmermann W, Cabrera-Sharp V, Read JE, de Mestre AM, O'Riordan R, Moore T....Pregnancy-specific glycoproteins (PSGs) are members of the carcinoembryonic antigen cell adhesion molecule (CEACAM) family that are secreted by trophoblast cells. PSGs may modulate immune, angiogenic and platelet responses during pregnancy. Until now, PSGs are only found in species that have a highly invasive (hemochorial) placentation including humans, mice and rats. Surprisingly, analyzing the CEACAM gene family of the horse, which has a non-invasive epitheliochorial placenta, with the exception of the transient endometrial cups, we identified equine CEACAM family members that seem to be rel...
Vinther AM, Heegaard PM, Skovgaard K, Buhl R, Andreassen SM, Andersen PH.Local inflammation may progress into systemic inflammation. To increase our understanding of the basic immunological processes during transition of equine local inflammation into a systemic state, investigation into the equine systemic immune response to local inflammation is warranted. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the innate peripheral blood leukocyte (PBL) immune response to local inflammation in horses, and to compare this response with the PBL immune response during the early phase of acute systemic inflammation. Expression of 22 selected inflammation-related genes w...
Lin YZ, Sun LK, Zhu DT, Hu Z, Wang XF, Du C, Wang YH, Wang XJ, Zhou JH.Human schlafen11 is a novel restriction factor for HIV-1 based on bias regarding relative synonymous codon usage (RSCU). Here, we report the cloning of equine schlafen11 (eSLFN11) and the characteristics of its role in restricting the production of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), a retrovirus similar to HIV-1. Overexpression of eSLFN11 inhibited EIAV replication, whereas knockdown of endogenous eSLFN11 by siRNA enhanced the release of EIAV from its principal target cell. Notably, although eSLFN11 significantly suppressed expression of viral Gag protein and EIAV release into the culture ...
François L, Jäderkvist Fegraeus K, Eriksson S, Andersson LS, Tesfayonas YG, Viluma A, Imsland F, Buys N, Mikko S, Lindgren G, Velie BD.Many genes are known to have an influence on conformation and performance traits; however, the role of one gene, Myostatin (MSTN), has been highlighted in recent studies on horses. Myostatin acts as a repressor in the development and regulation of differentiation and proliferative growth of skeletal muscle. Several studies have examined the link between MSTN, conformation, and performance in racing breeds, but no studies have investigated the relationship in Icelandic horses. Icelandic horses, a highly unique breed, are known both for their robust and compact conformation as well as their addi...
Stefanetti V, Marenzoni ML, Passamonti F, Cappelli K, Garcia-Etxebarria K, Coletti M, Capomaccio S.Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are proviral phases of exogenous retroviruses that have co-evolved with vertebrate genomes for millions of years. Previous studies have identified the envelope (env) protein genes of retroviral origin preferentially expressed in the placenta which suggests a role in placentation based on their membrane fusogenic capacity and therefore they have been named syncytins. Until now, all the characterized syncytins have been associated with three invasive placentation types: the endotheliochorial (Carnivora), the synepitheliochorial (Ruminantia), and the hemochorial pla...
Staiger EA, Abri MA, Silva CA, Brooks SA.Following domestication, man selected the horse primarily for the purpose of transportation rather than consumption; this selective strategy created divergent traits for locomotion. At intermediate speeds, beyond the flat walk, the horse can perform a range of diagonal and lateral 2-beat or 4-beat gait patterns. The Tennessee Walking Horse (TWH) is the only U.S. breed able to perform an even-timed 4-beat gait (the "running-walk") at intermediate speeds; however, within the breed, there is remaining variation in gait type. To investigate the contribution of genetics to this unique trait, blood ...
Aldrovandi AL, Osugui L, Acqua Coutinho SD.The objective of this study was to characterize genotypically Malassezia spp. isolated from the external ear canal of healthy horses. Fifty-five horses, 39 (70.9%) males and 16 (29.1%) females, from different breeds and adults were studied. External ear canals were cleaned and a sterile cotton swab was introduced to collect cerumen. A total of 110 samples were cultured into Dixon medium and were incubated at 32°C for up to 15 days. Macro- and micromorphology and phenotypic identification were performed. DNA was extracted, strains were submitted to polymerase chain reaction technique, and the ...
Griffith OW, Brandley MC, Whittington CM, Belov K, Thompson MB.In oviparous amniotes (reptiles, birds, and mammals) the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) lines the inside of the egg and acts as the living point of contact between the embryo and the outside world. In livebearing (viviparous) amniotes, communication during embryonic development occurs across placental tissues, which form between the uterine tissue of the mother and the CAM of the embryo. In both oviparous and viviparous taxa, the CAM is at the interface of the embryo and the external environment and can transfer signals from there to the embryo proper. To understand the evolution of placental ...
Schrimpf R, Gottschalk M, Metzger J, Martinsson G, Sieme H, Distl O.Stallion fertility is an economically important trait due to the increase of artificial insemination in horses. The availability of whole genome sequence data facilitates identification of rare high-impact variants contributing to stallion fertility. The aim of our study was to genotype rare high-impact variants retrieved from next-generation sequencing (NGS)-data of 11 horses in order to unravel harmful genetic variants in large samples of stallions. Methods: Gene ontology (GO) terms and search results from public databases were used to obtain a comprehensive list of human und mice genes pred...
Nemoto M, Bannai H, Tsujimura K, Yamanaka T, Kondo T.A Getah virus strain isolated during an outbreak in racehorses in Japan in 2014 (14-I-605) was compared with the vaccine strain isolated in 1978 (MI-110). A comparison of the genome sequences of these strains revealed seven amino acid substitutions in non-structural protein 3, and one or two substitutions in each of other non-structural proteins. In contrast, the structural proteins were highly conserved (99.8-99.9 % amino acid sequence identity). Horse antisera raised against the MI-110 strain showed similar virus-neutralization titers against both MI-110 and 14-I-605 strains (512 and 256, r...
Alves Beuttemmüller E, Woodward A, Rash A, Dos Santos Ferraz LE, Fernandes Alfieri A, Alfieri AA, Elton D.An extensive outbreak of equine influenza occurred across multiple countries in South America during 2012. The epidemic was first reported in Chile then spread to Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, where both vaccinated and unvaccinated animals were affected. In Brazil, infections were widespread within 3months of the first reported cases. Affected horses included animals vaccinated with outdated vaccine antigens, but also with the OIE-recommended Florida clade 1 strain South Africa/4/03. Methods: Equine influenza virus strains from infected horses were isolated in eggs, then a representative stra...
Negro Rama S, Valera M, Membrillo A, Gómez MD, Solé M, Menendez-Buxadera A, Anaya G, Molina A.The association of five candidate genes with sporting performance in young and adult Spanish Trotter horses (STHs) was performed according to a previous selection based on quantitative analysis of the trait time per kilometre (TPK). A total of 334 516 records of TPK from 5958 STHs were used to estimate the estimated breeding values (EBVs) at different age groups (young and adults horses) throughout the range of distances (1600-2700 m) using a bicharacter random regression model. The heritability estimated by distance ranged from 0.16 to 0.40, with a different range for the two age groups. Co...
Ricotti S, Garcia MI, Veaute C, Bailat A, Lucca E, Cook RF, Cook SJ, Soutullo A.Molecular and serological techniques for Equine Infectious Anemia Virus (EIAV) diagnosis were compared using samples from 59 clinically normal horses stabled on five farms in the Santa Fe Province of Argentina. Of these 26 (44.1%) were positive in official AGID tests and/or gp45/gp90-based ELISA. Surprisingly 18 of the 33 seronegative horses were positive in a PCR against viral sequences encoding gp45 (PCR-positive/AGID-negative) with all but one remaining EIAV-antibody negative throughout a two year observation period. The gp45 PCR results are supported by fact that 7/18 of these horses were ...
Ghosh S, Das PJ, McQueen CM, Gerber V, Swiderski CE, Lavoie JP, Chowdhary BP, Raudsepp T.We explored the involvement of genomic copy number variants (CNVs) in susceptibility to recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), or heaves-an asthmalike inflammatory disease in horses. Analysis of 16 RAO-susceptible (cases) and six RAO-resistant (control) horses on a custom-made whole-genome 400K equine tiling array identified 245 CNV regions (CNVRs), 197 previously known and 48 new, distributed on all horse autosomes and the X chromosome. Among the new CNVRs, 30 were exclusively found in RAO cases and were further analyzed by quantitative PCR, including additional cases and controls. Suggestive as...
Staiger EA, Al Abri MA, Pflug KM, Kalla SE, Ainsworth DM, Miller D, Raudsepp T, Sutter NB, Brooks SA.Conformation has long been a driving force in horse selection and breed creation as a predictor for performance. The Tennessee Walking Horse (TWH) ranges in size from 1.5 to 1.7 m and is often used as a trail, show, and pleasure horse. To investigate the contribution of genetics to body conformation in the TWH, we collected DNA samples, body measurements, and gait/training information from 282 individuals. We analyzed the 32 body measures with a principal component analysis. Principal component (PC)1 captured 28.5% of the trait variance, while PC2 comprised just 9.5% and PC3 6.4% of trait vari...
Lange-Consiglio A, Perrini C, Tasquier R, Deregibus MC, Camussi G, Pascucci L, Marini MG, Corradetti B, Bizzaro D, De Vita B, Romele P, Parolini O....Administration of horse amniotic mesenchymal cells (AMCs) and their conditioned medium (AMC-CM) improves the in vivo recovery of spontaneous equine tendon lesions and inhibits in vitro proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). This process may involve microvesicles (MVs) as an integral component of cell-to-cell communication during tissue regeneration. In this study, the presence and type of MVs secreted by AMCs were investigated and the response of equine tendon cells to MVs was studied using a dose-response curve at different concentrations and times. Moreover, the ability ...
Berlin S, Spieckermann L, Oswald S, Keiser M, Lumpe S, Ullrich A, Grube M, Hasan M, Venner M, Siegmund W.Drug interactions often result from multiple pharmacokinetic changes, such as after rifampicin (RIF) and clarithromycin (CLA) in the treatment of abscessing lung diseases. Comedication of RIF may interact with CLA disposition by either induction of presystemic elimination processes and/or inhibition of uptake mechanisms because it regulates gene transcription and modulates function of various CYP enzymes, multidrug efflux and uptake transporters for which CLA is a substrate. To distinguish the transcriptional changes from the modulating interaction components upon CLA absorption and pulmonary ...
Wang XF, Lin YZ, Li Q, Liu Q, Zhao WW, Du C, Chen J, Wang X, Zhou JH.The equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) vaccine is the only attenuated lentiviral vaccine applied on a large scale that has been shown to be effective in controlling the prevalence of EIA in China. This vaccine was developed by successive passaging of a field-isolated virulent strain in different hosts and cultivated cells. To explore the molecular basis for the phenotype alteration of this vaccine strain, we systematically analyzed its genomic evolution during vaccine development. Results: Sequence analysis revealed that the genetic distance between the wild-type strain and six representati...
Aldrich K, Velez-Irizarry D, Fenger C, Schott M, Valberg SJ.Recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis (RER) is a chronic muscle disorder of unknown etiology in racehorses. A potential role of intramuscular calcium (Ca2+) dysregulation in RER has led to the use of dantrolene to prevent episodes of rhabdomyolysis. We examined differentially expressed proteins (DEP) and gene transcripts (DEG) in gluteal muscle of Thoroughbred race-trained mares after exercise among three groups of 5 horses each; 1) horses susceptible to, but not currently experiencing rhabdomyolysis, 2) healthy horses with no history of RER (control), 3) RER-susceptible horses treated with dant...
Ciotola F, Albarella S, Pasolini MP, Auletta L, Esposito L, Iannuzzi L, Peretti V.An 18-month-old Arabian foal characterized by a stallion-like appearance was submitted for cytogenetic and molecular genetics examinations due to abnormalities of external genitalia and the presence of ovotestis-like structures in the abdominal cavity. By RB-banding the animal showed the normal female equine karyotype (2n = 64,XX). Molecular analysis revealed the absence of the SRY and ZFY genes and the presence of ZFX, a typical female equine condition. The entire RSPO1 coding region was examined to exclude its involvement. Although a SNP was found in exon 3, it was not responsible for an ami...
Southwood LL, Kawcak CE, Hidaka C, McIlwraith CW, Werpy N, Macleay J, Frisbie DD.To evaluate gene transfer in an equine metacarpal IV (MCIV) ostectomy model using adenoviral vectors encoding the human bone morphogenetic protein-2 and protein-7 gene (Ad-BMP-2/-7). Methods: Healthy adult horses (n = 15). Methods: A plate stabilized, critical size 1.5 cm ostectomy was created in left and right MCIV. The ostectomy site was injected with either Ad-green fluorescent protein (Ad-GFP) or Ad-hBMP-2/-7 at completion of surgery; the same treatment was assigned to both the left and right forelimb of each horse (n = 5 horses/group). Bone healing was evaluated radiographically every 2 w...
Petersen GF, Hilbert B, Trope G, Kalle W, Strappe P.Equine adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (EADMSC) provide a unique cell-based approach for treatment of a variety of equine musculoskeletal injuries, via regeneration of diseased or damaged tissue, or the secretion of immunomodulatory molecules. These capabilities can be further enhanced by genetic modification using lentiviral vectors, which provide a safe and efficient method of gene delivery. We investigated the suitability of lentiviral vector technology for gene delivery into EADMSC, using GFP expressing lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with the G glycoprotein from the vesicular stomat...
González-Fernández L, Sánchez-Calabuig MJ, Alves MG, Oliveira PF, Macedo S, Gutiérrez-Adán A, Rocha A, Macías-García B.Equine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) are classified as compact (cCOC) or expanded (eCOC) and vary in their meiotic competence. This difference could be related to divergent glucose metabolism. To test this hypothesis in the present study, eCOCs, cCOCs and expanded or compact mural granulosa cells (EC and CC respectively) were matured in vitro for 30h, at which time maturation rate, glucose metabolism and the expression of genes involved in glucose transport, glycolysis, apoptosis and meiotic competence were determined. There were significant differences between eCOCs and cCOCs in maturation ...
Jayne S, Kerfelec B, Foglizzo E, Chapus C, Crenon I.The physiological role of the two lipase-related proteins, PLRP1 and PLRP2, still remains obscure although some propositions have been made concerning PLRP2. In this paper, we report the presence of high amounts of PLRP2 in adult horse pancreas whereas no PLRP1 could be detected. As well, a non-parallel expression of PLRP2 and PLRP1 is observed in adult cat and dog, since no PLRP2 could be detected in these two species. In adult ox, neither PLRP2 nor PLRP1 could be found. These findings are in favor of a different regulation of the expression of the genes encoding pancreatic lipase and the rel...
Griffon DJ, Cho J, Wagner JR, Charavaryamath C, Wei J, Wagoner Johnson A.Chitosan opens new perspectives in regenerative medicine as it enhances the properties of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) through formation of spheroids. Hypoxia has also been proposed to enhance stemness and survival of MSCs after in vivo implantation. These characteristics are relevant to the development of an off-the-shelf source of allogenic cells for regenerative therapy of tendinopathies. Umbilical cord-derived MSCs (UCM-MSCs) offer an abundant source of immature and immunoprivileged stem cells. In this study, equine UCM-MSCs (eqUCM-MSCs) conditioned for 3 and 7 days on chitosan films at 5...
Wetz K, Crichton RR.In apoferritin, but not in ferritin, 1.0 +/- 0.1 cysteine residue per subunit can be modified. In ferritin 3.3 +/- 0.3 lysine residues and 7.1 +/- 0.7 carboxyl groups per subunit can be modified, whilst the corresponding values for apoferritin are 4.4 +/- 0.4 lysine residues and 11.0 +/- 0.4 carboxyl groups per subunit. Modification of lysine residues which maleic anhydride and carboxyl groups with glycineamide in apoferritin which has been dissociated and denatured in guanidine hydrochloride leads to the introduction of 9.1 +/- 0.5 maleyl groups per subunit and 22.0 +/- 0.9 glycineamide resid...
Semik E, Gurgul A, Ząbek T, Ropka-Molik K, Koch C, Mählmann K, Bugno-Poniewierska M.Equine sarcoids are the most commonly detected skin tumours in Equidae. In the present research, a comparative transcriptomic analysis was performed which aimed at looking inside a tumour biology and identification of the expression profile as a potential source of cancer specific genes useful as biomarkers. We have used Horse Gene Expression Microarray data from matched equine sarcoids and tumour-distant skin samples. In total, 901 significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between lesional and healthy skin samples have been identified (fold change ≥ 2; P < 0.05). The la...
Dunowska M, Gopakumar G, Perrott MR, Kendall AT, Waropastrakul S, Hartley CA, Carslake HB.Infection with equid herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) may be asymptomatic, or may result in respiratory disease, abortion, neonatal death, or neurological disease. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of EHV-1 infection, including differentiation between genotypes with aspartic acid (D) and asparagine (N) at position 752 of the DNA polymerase sequence, within a selected population of New Zealand horses. The second aim was to determine the predictive value of serology for detection of latently infected horses. Retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RLN) and trigeminal ganglia (TG) were dissected fro...
Kheder MH, Bailey SR, Dudley KJ, Sillence MN, de Laat MA.Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) is associated with insulin dysregulation, which often manifests as post-prandial hyperinsulinemia. Circulating concentrations of the incretin hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) correlate with an increased insulin response to carbohydrate intake in animals with EMS. However, little is known about the equine GLP-1 receptor (eGLP-1R), or whether GLP-1 concentrations can be manipulated. The objectives were to determine (1) the tissue localisation of the eGLP-1R, (2) the GLP-1 secretory capacity of equine intestine in response to glucose and (3) whether GLP-1 s...
Pusterla N, Hatch K, Crossley B, Wademan C, Barnum S, Flynn K.The objective of this study was to determine if the genotype of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) impacted clinical disease and outcome of horses with laboratory confirmed equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy (EHM). Medical records from 65 horses diagnosed with EHM from 2011 to 2019 were reviewed for signalment, presence and severity of clinical signs (lethargy, fever, ataxia, urinary incontinence) and outcome. Horses were further grouped based on the EHV-1 genotype into neuropathic (D) or non-neuropathic (N) EHV-1 infection. Between the two EHV-1 genotype groups, age and sex distributions were s...
Tavernor AS, Kydd JH, Bodian DL, Jones EY, Stuart DI, Davis SJ, Butcher GW.An equine CD2 cDNA has been isolated by monoclonal antibody screening of a T-lymphocyte cDNA library. The cDNA contained an open reading frame of 1041 bp encoding a translated product of 347 amino acids. Northern blotting analysis revealed a single mRNA species expressed in spleen, thymus and activated peripheral lymphocytes. The predicted amino acid sequence has 50-65% identity with the human, rat and mouse CD2 sequences with greatest similarity shared with the human homologue. Evolutionarily conserved structural and functional domains in CD2 were identified by comparing the sequences of the ...
Marth CD, Firestone SM, Hanlon D, Glenton LY, Browning GF, Young ND, Krekeler N.Persistent mating-induced endometritis (PMIE) severely decreases fertility in horses. The aim of the present study was to evaluate differences between horses susceptible to PMIE and a control group in terms of the expression of selected immune response and effector genes, and the effects of oestrous cycle stage on this expression. Endometrial biopsies from 18 uterine samples of mares in the control group (eight in dioestrus, 10 in oestrus) and 16 PMIE-susceptible mares (four in dioestrus, 12 in oestrus) were analysed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Ge...
Bauer A, Hiemesch T, Jagannathan V, Neuditschko M, Bachmann I, Rieder S, Mikko S, Penedo MC, Tarasova N, Vitková M, Sirtori N, Roccabianca P, Leeb T....Naked foal syndrome (NFS) is a genodermatosis in the Akhal-Teke horse breed. We provide the first scientific description of this phenotype. Affected horses have almost no hair and show a mild ichthyosis. So far, all known NFS affected horses died between a few weeks and 3 yr of age. It is not clear whether a specific pathology caused the premature deaths. NFS is inherited as a monogenic autosomal recessive trait. We mapped the disease causing genetic variant to two segments on chromosomes 7 and 27 in the equine genome. Whole genome sequencing of two affected horses, two obligate carriers, and...
Johnson GP, Lloyd AT, O'Farrelly C, Meade KG, Fair S.?-defensins are small cationic proteins with potent immunoregulatory and antimicrobial activity. The number of genes encoding these peptides varies significantly between and within species but they have not been extensively characterised in the horse. Here, we describe a systematic search of the Equus caballus genome that identified a cluster of novel ?-defensin genes on Chromosome 22, which is homologous to a cluster on bovine Chromosome 13. Close genomic matches were found for orthologs of 13 of the bovine genes, which were named equine ?-defensins (eBD) 115, eBD116, eBD117, eBD119, eBD120, ...
Tozaki T, Miyake T, Kakoi H, Gawahara H, Hirota K, Nakano Y, Kurosawa M.This study evaluated the differences between linear and non-linear modelled heritability estimates of racing performance based on lifetime earnings (LE) and lifetime ranking (LR) in Japanese Thoroughbred racehorses. The heritability estimate (h(2) = 0.25) obtained from a non-linear model based on formal Japan Racing Association ranking was much higher than that obtained from a linear model based on the original trait phenotype (h(2) = 0.11). The linear models showed slightly higher heritability estimates under the trait categorizations than under the original phenotypes, while the non-linear c...
Haites RE, Muscatello G, Begg AP, Browning GF.The prevalence of the plasmid-encoded virulence-associated gene (vapA) of Rhodococcus equi, as determined by PCR, was found to be 98% in isolates from 154 foals with pneumonia, confirming the strong association of vapA with virulence. The vapA genes from 60 representative isolates were compared by digestion with the restriction endonuclease HinfI, and no evidence of sequence variation was detected.
Dierks C, Löhring K, Lampe V, Wittwer C, Drögemüller C, Distl O.A genome-wide scan was performed to detect quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for osteochondrosis (OC) and osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) in horses. The marker set comprised 260 microsatellites. We collected data from 211 Hanoverian warmblood horses consisting of 14 paternal half-sib families. Traits used were OC (fetlock and/or hock joints affected), OCD (fetlock and/or hock joints affected), fetlock OC, fetlock OCD, hock OC, and hock OCD. The first genome scan included 172 microsatellite markers. In a second step 88 additional markers were chosen to refine putative QTLs found in the first scan....
Pozharskiy A, Abdrakhmanova A, Beishova I, Shamshidin A, Nametov A, Ulyanova T, Bekova G, Kikebayev N, Kovalchuk A, Ulyanov V, Turabayev A....Horses are traditionally used in Kazakhstan as a source of food and as working and saddle animals as well. Here, for the first time, microarray-based medium-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping of six traditionally defined types and breeds of indigenous Kazakh horses was conducted to reveal their genetic structure and find markers associated with animal size and weight. The results showed that the predefined separation between breeds and sampled populations was not supported by the molecular data. The lack of genetic variation between breeds and populations was revealed by t...
Jäderkvist Fegraeus K, Hirschberg I, Árnason T, Andersson L, Velie BD, Andersson LS, Lindgren G.The Icelandic horse is a breed known mainly for its ability to perform the ambling four-beat gait 'tölt' and the lateral two-beat gait pace. The natural ability of the breed to perform these alternative gaits is highly desired by breeders. Therefore, the discovery that a nonsense mutation (C>A) in the DMRT3 gene was the main genetic factor for horses' ability to perform gaits in addition to walk, trot and canter was of great interest. Although several studies have demonstrated that homozygosity for the DMRT3 mutation is important for the ability to pace, only about 70% of the homozygous mutan...
Sevane N, Sanz CR, Dunner S.Four loci seem responsible for the dilution of the basic coat colours in horse: Dun (D), Silver Dapple (Z), Champagne (CH) and Cream (C). Apart from the current phenotypes ascribed to these loci, pearl has been described as yet another diluted coat colour in this species. To date, this coat colour seems to segregate only in the Iberian breeds Purebred Spanish horse and Lusitano and has also been described in breeds of Iberian origin, such as Quarter Horses and Paint Horse, where it is referred to as the 'Barlink Factor'. This phenotype segregates in an autosomal recessive manner and resembles ...
Caron JP, Gandy JC, Schmidt M, Hauptman JG, Sordillo LM.To compare the effects of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) and methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) on expression of selected chondrocyte genes in recombinant equine interleukin-1β (reIL-1β) stimulated articular cartilage explants. Methods: In vitro experiment. Methods: Horses (n = 6). Methods: Articular cartilage explants from 2- to 3- year-old horses were exposed to reIL-1β in the presence and absence of TA and MPA at 10(-7) and 10(-6) M. Resting levels of mRNA of anabolic and catabolic genes of chondrocyte origin were quantified using qPCR after 6- and 12-hour incubations. Genes of interest incl...
Choi YH, Harding HD, Hartman DL, Obermiller AD, Kurosaka S, McLaughlin KJ, Hinrichs K.The reported patterns of trophectodermal expression of POU5F1 protein in blastocysts vary among species, and are possibly related to the differences in placental growth and function. This study investigated the pattern of embryonic POU5F1 expression in the horse, a species with delayed placental formation. Immature equine oocytes expressed POU5F1 protein in the cytoplasm and nucleus. Staining for POU5F1 protein in in vitro-produced (IVP) embryos decreased to day 5 of culture, then the nuclear staining increased to day 7. IVP day-7 to -11 blastocysts showed POU5F1 staining in nuclei throughout ...
Lee W, Park KD, Taye M, Lee C, Kim H, Lee HK, Shin D.This study was intended to identify genes positively selected in Thoroughbred horses (THBs) that potentially contribute to their running performances. Methods: The genomes of THB and Jeju horses (JH, Korean native horse) were compared to identify genes positively selected in THB. We performed cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity (XP-EHH) and cross-population composite likelihood ratio test (XP-CLR) statistical methods for our analysis using whole genome resequencing data of 14 THB and 6 JH. Results: We identified 98 (XP-EHH) and 200 (XP-CLR) genes that are under positive selection ...
Gim JA, Ayarpadikannan S, Eo J, Kwon YJ, Choi Y, Lee HK, Park KD, Yang YM, Cho BW, Kim HS.Physical exercise induces gene expression changes that trigger glucose metabolism pathways in organisms. In the present study, we monitored the expression levels of LDHA (lactate dehydrogenase) and GYS1 (glycogen synthase 1) in the blood, to confirm the roles of these genes in exercise physiology. LDHA and GYS1 are related to glucose metabolism and fatigue recovery, and these processes could elicit economically important traits in racehorses. We collected blood samples from three retired thoroughbred racehorses, pre-exercise and immediately after 30 min of exercise. We extracted total RNA and ...
Dam Van P, Desmecht D, Garigliany MM, Bui Tran Anh D, Van Laere AS.Type I/III interferons provide powerful and universal innate intracellular defense mechanisms against viruses. Among the antiviral effectors induced, Mx proteins of some species appear as key components of defense against influenza A viruses. It is expected that such an antiviral protein must display a platform dedicated to the recognition of said viruses. In an attempt to identify such platform in human MxA, an evolution-guided approach capitalizing on the antagonistic arms race between MxA and its viral targets and the genomic signature it left on primate genomes revealed that the surface-ex...
Bidaud P, Hébert L, Barbey C, Appourchaux AC, Torelli R, Sanguinetti M, Laugier C, Petry S.Rhodococcus equi is one of the most widespread causes of disease in foals aged from 1 to 6 months. R. equi possesses antioxidant defense mechanisms to protect it from reactive oxygen metabolites such as hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) generated during the respiratory burst of phagocytic cells. These defense mechanisms include enzymes such as catalase, which detoxify hydrogen peroxide. Recently, an analysis of the R. equi 103 genome sequence revealed the presence of four potential catalase genes. We first constructed ΔkatA-, ΔkatB-, ΔkatC-and ΔkatD-deficient mutants to study the ability of R. ...
Pacholewska A, Marti E, Leeb T, Jagannathan V, Gerber V.Lipopolysaccharide (endotoxin, LPS) is a strong inducer of the innate immune response. It is widespread in our environment, e.g. in house dust and contributes to asthma. Compared to humans, horses are even more sensitive to LPS. However, data on LPS effects on the equine transcriptome are very limited. Using RNA-seq we analysed LPS-induced differences in the gene expression in equine peripheral blood mononuclear cells at the gene and gene-network level in two half-sib families and one group of unrelated horses. 24 h-LPS challenge of equine immune cells resulted in substantial changes in the t...
van den Hoven R, Gür E, Schlamanig M, Hofer M, Onmaz AC, Steinborn R.A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the first intron of the myostatin gene (MSTN) is associated with aptness of elite Thoroughbreds to race over sprint, middle or long distances. This intronic marker (g.66493737 T ≻ C), a short interspersed nuclear element (SINE) of 227 bp (Ins227bp) insertion polymorphism in the MSTN promoter, and the adjacent SNP BIEC2-417495 have not been studied for their association with racing aptness of the average Thoroughbreds raced in countries with lower status of the racing industry. This study investigated these markers regarding their prevalence and assoc...
