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.
Mariat D, Taourit S, Guérin G.In horses, basic colours such as bay or chestnut may be partially diluted to buckskin and palomino, or extremely diluted to cream, a nearly white colour with pink skin and blue eyes. This dilution is expected to be controlled by one gene and we used both candidate gene and positional cloning strategies to identify the "cream mutation". A horse panel including reference colours was established and typed for different markers within or in the neighbourhood of two candidate genes. Our data suggest that the causal mutation, a G to A transition, is localised in exon 2 of the MATP gene leading to an...
Teifke JP, Kidney BA, Löhr CV, Yager JA.We examined 12 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded feline skin tumours which had the histopathological features of fibropapillomas for the presence of papillomavirus (PV) DNA using touchdown polymerase chain reaction (PCR), DNA sequencing and nonradioactive in situ hybridization. Nine of the tumours contained a 102-bp PCR product demonstrated using consensus PV primers that amplify a portion of the L1 gene. The nucleotide sequences are closely related, but not identical to that of ovine PV type 2, rabbit oral PV and reindeer PV. The deduced amino acid sequences had strong homologies with the majo...
Sato F, Hasegawa T, Katayama Y, Ishida N.Complementary DNA (cDNA) encoding equine dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) was amplified with a combination of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) method, and their nucleotide sequences (Accession No. AB029430: the DDBJ nucleotide sequence database) was determined. A total of 3842 bp cDNA sequence was consisted with 5 bp of 5' flanking untranslated sequence, 1833 bp of open reading frame encoding 610 amino acids, and 2004 bp of 3' flanking untranslated sequence. The deduced amino acid sequence of equine DBH was very similar to the ...
Rappocciolo G, Birch J, Ellis SA.There is good evidence that cytotoxic T lymphocytes play an important role in the clearance of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV1) in horses. We have demonstrated that, in common with other alphaherpesviruses, EHV1 infection can lead to dramatic down-regulation of MHC class I expression at the cell surface, a common strategy for pathogen evasion of the host immune response. This down-regulation is specific for MHC class I and does not reflect a general shut-off of host-cell protein synthesis. The use of monoclonal antibodies that recognize different MHC class I epitopes has demonstrated that the effec...
Hospes R, Hospes BI, Reiss I, Bostedt H, Gortner L.In the following, we describe the isolation and sequencing of the equine surfactant protein A (Sp-A) as found in both the cDNA and the genomic DNA. We found a length of the cDNA sequence of 747 bp (base pairs), in translation into amino acids of 248. Compared with the known molecular biological facts about Sp-A in other species, the cDNA sequence obtained showed highest homology with that of sheep (85.01%). The genomic DNA of equine Sp-A, as in other species, includes three introns. There were no hints for the existence of two different Sp-A genes. These results should form the basis for a bet...
Benarafa C, Collins ME, Hamblin AS, Cunningham FM.The chemokine eotaxin is involved in the recruitment of eosinophils and T helper 2 lymphocytes in human allergic diseases, and drugs that block its activity, including eotaxin receptor (CCR3) antagonists, are being developed. The authors have recently cloned the horse ortholog of eotaxin and shown that it can induce equine eosinophil migration and activation in vitro. Moreover, eotaxin mRNA expression was upregulated in cultured horse dermal fibroblasts exposed to equine interleukin-4, suggesting a possible source of this eosinophil chemoattractant in equine skin. The results of this study sho...
Semevolos SA, Brower-Toland BD, Bent SJ, Nixon AJ.Early changes in parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTH-rP) and Indian hedgehog (Ihh) expression were examined in equine articular osteochondrosis (OC) as a model of a naturally acquired dyschondroplasia. Cartilage was harvested from OC-affected femoropatellar or scapulohumeral joints from immature horses and normal control horses of similar age. PTH-rP expression levels were assessed by semi-quantitative PCR, in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry. Ihh protein expression levels were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Elevated PTH-rP protein and mRNA expression were identified in the...
Tallmadge RL, Lear TL, Johnson AK, Guérin G, Millon LV, Carpenter SL, Antczak DF.A clone containing beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)-m), the light chain of the major histocompatibility complex class I cell surface molecule, was isolated from an equine bacterial artificial chromosome library. This clone was used as a template for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and unidirectional sequencing to elucidate the genomic sequence and intron/exon boundaries. We obtained 7,000 bases of sequence, extending from 1,100 nucleotides (nt) upstream of the coding region start through 1,698 nt downstream of the stop codon. The sequence contained regulatory elements in the region upstream of t...
Buff PR, Dodds AC, Morrison CD, Whitley NC, McFadin EL, Daniel JA, Djiane J, Keisler DH.Obesity has been a major concern in the horse industry for many years, and the recent discovery of leptin and leptin receptors in numerous nonequine species has provided a basis for new approaches to study this problem in equine. The objectives were to: 1) clone a partial sequence ofthe equine leptin and leptin receptor genes so as to enable the design of primers for RT-PCR determination of leptin and leptin receptor gene presence and distribution in tissues, 2) develop a radioimmunoassay to quantify peripheral concentrations of leptin in equine, 3) determine if peripheral concentrations of le...
Giese A, Jude R, Kuiper H, Raudsepp T, Piumi F, Schambony A, Guérin G, Chowdhary BP, Distl O, Töpfer-Petersen E, Leeb T.The cysteine-rich secretory protein (CRISP) family consists of three members called acidic epididymal glycoprotein 1 (AEG1), AEG2, and testis-specific protein 1 (TPX1), which share 16 conserved cysteine residues at their C-termini. The CRISP proteins are primarily expressed in different sections of the male genital tract and are thought to mediate cell-cell interactions of male germ cells with other cells during sperm maturation or during fertilization. Therefore, their genes are of interest as candidate genes for inherited male fertility dysfunctions and as putative quantitative trait loci fo...
Wu D, Murakami K, Liu N, Inoshima Y, Yokoyama T, Kokuho T, Inumaru S, Matsumura T, Kondo T, Nakano K, Sentsui H.The full-length equine interferon-gamma (eIFN-gamma) cDNA, including the secretion signal peptide coding region, was recloned into baculovirus transfer vector pAcYM1. This vector was co-transfected with Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus DNA or hybrid nuclear polyhedrosis virus DNA into Spodoptera frugiperda cells. The recombinant viruses, named AcEIFN-gamma and HyEIFN-gamma, were then recovered. Recombinant eIFN-gamma (reIFN-gamma) was accumulated in the culture fluid of the AcEIFN-gamma or HyEIFN-gamma infected Tricoplusia ni -derived cell line, BTI TN 5B1-4, and hemolymph of ...
Pösö AR, Eklund-Uusitalo S, Hyyppä S, Pirilä E.In response to stress, cells synthesise heat shock proteins (HSP) to maintain protein homeostasis. To study whether exercise and training induce expression of HSP72 in the middle gluteal muscle, 10 Finnhorses performed a submaximal 60 min exercise test on a treadmill. Test A was performed after 3 months of training, and the other two tests 2 (B) and 5 (C) weeks later. Blood samples were taken during and after the tests, and biopsy samples before, immediately after and 23 h after each test. HSP72 mRNA was analysed using a digoxigenin-labelled probe. Blood lactate concentration in the 3 tests va...
Stock AE, Bouchard N, Brown K, Spicer AP, Underhill CB, Doré M, Sirois J.In contrast to other species, the preovulatory rise in gonadotropins in mares causes a remarkable expansion of the entire granulosa cell layer in vivo, suggesting that hyaluronan (HA) synthesis may be regulated in mural granulosa cells in this species. The objectives of this study were to clone and characterize equine hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2) and investigate the regulation of its transcript and of HA synthesis in equine follicles during human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)- induced ovulation. Results showed that the equine HAS2 cDNA contains a 5'-untranslated region of 436 bp, an open readin...
Howe L, Leroux C, Issel CJ, Montelaro RC.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) infection of horses is characterized by well-defined waves of viremia associated with the sequential evolution of distinct viral populations displaying extensive envelope gp90 variation; however, a correlation of in vivo envelope evolution with in vitro serum neutralization phenotype remains undefined. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to utilize a previously defined panel of natural variant EIAV envelope isolates from sequential febrile episodes to characterize the effects of envelope variation during persistent infection on viral neutralizatio...
Milenkovic D, Oustry-Vaiman A, Lear TL, Billault A, Mariat D, Piumi F, Schibler L, Cribiu E, Guérin G.The aim of this study was to increase the number of type I markers on the horse cytogenetic map and to improve comparison with maps of other species, thus facilitating positional candidate cloning studies. BAC clones from two different sources were FISH mapped: homologous horse BAC clones selected from our newly extended BAC library using consensus primer sequences and heterologous goat BAC clones. We report the localization of 136 genes on the horse cytogenetic map, almost doubling the number of cytogenetically mapped genes with 48 localizations from horse BAC clones and 88 from goat BAC clon...
Matiasovic J, Kubícková S, Musilová P, Rubes J, Horín P.The complete coding cDNA sequence of the horse NRAMP1 (SLC11A1) gene was determined (GenBank accession number AF354445). The nucleotide sequence of the horse NRAMP1 gene is similar to sequences of this gene in other species. The gene contains 15 exons whose total length of 1,635 bp corresponds to 544 amino acids constituting the resulting putative protein. Hydrophobicity profile analysis of the deduced horse NRAMP1 gene product showed a nearly identical structure with the mouse NRAMP1 protein. The gene was found to be located on the short arm of ECA 6p12-13 by fluorescence in situ hybridizatio...
Swinburne JE, Hopkins A, Binns MM.The dominant grey coat colour gene of horses has been mapped using a whole genome scanning approach. Samples from a large half-sibling pedigree of Thoroughbred horses were utilized in order to map the grey coat colour locus, G. Multiplex groups of microsatellite markers were developed and used to efficiently screen the horse genome at a resolution of approximately 22 cM, based on an estimated map length for the horse genome of 2720 cM. The grey gene was assigned to chromosome 25 (ECA25), one of the smaller acrocentric horse chromosomes. Based on the current state of knowledge of conserved synt...
Díaz S, Dulout FN, Peral-García P.Genetic polymorphism was analyzed for five blood proteins: albumin - Al, esterase - Es, alpha(1)B-glycoprotein - Xk, transferrin - Tf and hemoglobin - Hb in 200 Thoroughbred (TB) and 124 Argentine Creole (AC) horses. Of the five systems examined, Tf and Hb were not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in either breed and Es was not in equilibrium in the Creole breed. Genetic variability, estimated as average heterozygosity, was higher in AC (H = 0.585 +/- 0.131) than in TB (H = 0.353 +/- 0.065). The genetic differentiation between these two populations (F(ST)) was 0.109. Thus, of the total genetic di...
Birtles RJ, Laycock G, Kenny MJ, Shaw SE, Day MJ.Between October 1999 and February 2000, 691 blood samples examined routinely for either haematological or virological assessment were screened by culture for the presence of Bartonella species. They came from 615 animals: 360 cats, 211 dogs, 27 horses, 16 cattle and a gorilla. The samples were incubated for long periods on 10 per cent horse blood agar at 37 degrees C in an atmosphere containing 5 per cent carbon dioxide. Isolates were obtained from 35 samples from 34 (9.4 per cent) of the cats, but not from any of the other animals. Comparison of citrate synthase gene sequences from the isolat...
Makrai L, Takai S, Tamura M, Tsukamoto A, Sekimoto R, Sasaki Y, Kakuda T, Tsubaki S, Varga J, Fodor L, Solymosi N, Major A.Rhodococcus equi isolates (204) obtained from foals (lung abscesses, lymph nodes, nasal discharge, rectal swabs) bred in 15 studs located throughout Hungary, isolates from soil samples, lymph nodes of pigs and from lesions of human patients were examined to determine genotypic diversity of virulence-associated plasmids. Isolates were tested for the presence of 15-17 kDa virulence-associated protein antigen (VapA) and 20k Da (VapB) genes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Plasmid DNAs were isolated and analysed by digestion with restriction endonucleases for estimation of size and comparison o...
Thway TM, Wolfe MW.Equids and primates are the only species known to express the placental hormone chorionic gonadotropin (CG). CG is a member of the heterodimeric glycoprotein family and is composed of an alpha subunit linked to a hormone-specific beta subunit. Previously, we have reported that epidermal growth factor (EGF) regulates the equine glycoprotein hormone alpha subunit promoter through a protein kinase C (PKC)/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction pathway in trophoblasts. The current study investigates the regulatory element/factors involved in the induction of equine glycoprotei...
Brooks SA, Terry RB, Bailey E.An MspI polymorphism was identified in intron 13 of the equine homologue of proto-oncogene c-kit (KIT) by comparing DNA sequences from horses with solid coat colour and horses homozygous for the tobiano spotting (To) gene. The allele associated with solid coat colour was designated KM0, while the allele associated with the tobiano pattern created an additional MspI restriction site and was designated KM1. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) studies using DNA from hair follicles demonstrated that all 129 of 129 tobiano patterned horses possessed the KM1...
Martoriati A, Lalmanach AC, Goudet G, Gérard N.A growing body of evidence suggests that the ovary is a site of inflammatory reactions, and thus, ovarian cells could represent sources and targets of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) system. The aim of the present work was to investigate the expression of IL-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-1ra, IL-1R1, and IL-1R2 genes in equine cumulus cells and oocytes. Moreover, the influence of IL-1beta on in vitro maturation of cumulus-oocytes complexes (COCs) was examined. COCs were collected using ultrasound-guided follicular puncture in vivo. Oocytes and cumulus cells were isolated from preovulatory and subordinate foll...
Zhou W, Cook RF, Cook SJ, Hammond SA, Rushlow K, Ghabrial NN, Berger SL, Montelaro RC, Issel CJ.The env gene is an excellent candidate for inclusion in any DNA-based vaccine approach against equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). Unfortunately, this gene is subjected to mutational pressure in E. coli resulting in the introduction of stop codons at the 5' terminus unless it is molecularly cloned using very-low-copy-number plasmid vectors. To overcome this problem, a mammalian expression vector was constructed based on the low-copy-number pLG338-30 plasmid. This permitted the production of full-length EIAV env gene clones (plcnCMVenv) from which low-level expression of the viral surface un...
Giese A, Jude R, Kuiper H, Piumi F, Schambony A, Guérin G, Distl O, Töpfer-Petersen E, Leeb T.Acidic epididymal glycoprotein 1 (AEG1), also called cysteine-rich secretory protein 1 (CRISP1), is a member of the CRISP protein family which is characterized by 16 conserved cysteine residues at the C-terminus. The CRISP proteins are expressed in the male genital tract and are thought to be involved in sperm-egg fusion. Therefore, their genes are of interest as candidate genes for inherited male fertility dysfunctions and as putative quantitative trait loci for male fertility traits. In this report, the cloning and DNA sequence of 90 kb of horse genomic DNA from equine chromosome 20q22 conta...
Matiasovic J, Lukeszová L, Horín P.Primers based on GenBank sequences within the 5' untranslated region (UTR) of the human and horse tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) genes were designed and used to amplify a 522-bp product. Sequencing of five clones derived from five independent PCRs obtained from three different animals of three different breeds (Old Kladruber, Akhal-Teke and Shetland Pony) revealed a high level of sequence identity to the TNF-alpha promoter regions of other species. The existing GenBank horse sequences were confirmed and extended upstream by 230 nucleotides. Based on the sequence obtained, a new horse...
Wagner B, Greiser-Wilke I, Wege AK, Radbruch A, Leibold W.It is generally assumed that the different mammalian IgG isotypes have developed during evolution by duplications of a common ancestor gamma heavy chain constant region gene (IGHG). In contrast to other species studied so far, which express between one and four IGHG genes, the horse (Equus caballus) genome contains six IGHG genes, and it has been postulated that they all can be expressed. For determination of the evolutionary history of the six horse IGHG genes, genomic DNA and cDNA of the IGHG genes were sequenced. The structure of these genes with reference to exons and introns was determine...
Hammond RA, Flower RJ, Bryant CE.THE gene encoding equine inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was cloned and sequenced. The strategy consisted of the amplification by PCR of message isolated from primary cultures of equine articular chondrocytes (Frean et al 1997) treated with 100 mg mlÿ1 LPS (Escherichia coli serotype O127:B8). PCR primer pairs were generated by comparison of cross-species published iNOS nucleotide sequences. The sequences of the 30 and 50 termini were derived by the generation of PCR products spanning those regions. The assembly of sequenced PCR fragments revealed a 3930 complete nucleotide sequence wit...
Finley MR, Li Y, Hua F, Lillich J, Mitchell KE, Ganta S, Gilmour RF, Freeman LC.In dogs and in humans, potassium channels formed by ether-a-go-go-related gene 1 protein ERG1 (KCNH2) and KCNQ1 alpha-subunits, in association with KCNE beta-subunits, play a role in normal repolarization and may contribute to abnormal repolarization associated with long QT syndrome (LQTS). The molecular basis of repolarization in horse heart is unknown, although horses exhibit common cardiac arrhythmias and may receive drugs that induce LQTS. In horse heart, we have used immunoblotting and immunostaining to demonstrate the expression of ERG1, KCNQ1, KCNE1, and KCNE3 proteins and RT-PCR to det...
Gim JA, Kim HS.MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are single-stranded, small RNAs (21-23 nucleotides) that function in gene silencing and translational inhibition via the RNA interference mechanism. Most miRNAs originate from host genomic regions, such as intergenic regions, introns, exons, and transposable elements (TEs). Here, we focused on the palindromic structure of medium reiteration frequencies (MERs), which are similar to precursor miRNAs. Five MER consensus sequences (MER5A1, MER53, MER81, MER91C, and MER117) were matched with paralogous transcripts predicted to be precursor miRNAs in the horse genome (equCab2) and...
Pathak A, Gulati BR, Maan S, Mor S, Kumar D, Soman R, Punia S, Chaudhary D, Khurana SK.Rotaviruses are the most common viral agents associated with foal diarrhea. Between 2014 and 2017, the annual prevalence of rotavirus in diarrheic foals ranged between 18 and 28% in Haryana (India). Whole-genome sequencing of two equine rotavirus A (ERVA) isolates (RVA/Horse-wt/IND/ERV4/2017 and RVA/Horse-wt/IND/ERV6/2017) was carried out to determine the genotypic constellations (GCs) of ERVAs. The GCs of both the isolates were G3-P[3]-I8-R3-C3-M3-A9-N3-T3-E3-H6, a unique combination reported for ERVAs so far. Both the isolates carried VP6 of genotype I8, previously unreported from equines. U...
Heo EJ, Lee HS, Jeoung HY, Ko HR, Kweon CH, Ko YJ.A recombinant glycoprotein (R-GP) of vesicular stomatitis New Jersey virus (VSV-NJ) was expressed in insect cells by a baculovirus system. Its utility as a diagnostic antigen in a blocking ELISA was investigated as an alternative to the current native GP extracted from VSV-NJ. With the cut-off value of 73% inhibition, the R-GP ELISA exhibited 99.1% specificity for naive sera from cattle and horses. It did not cross-react with VSV-Indiana (VSV-IN) positive sera and differentiated from foot-and-mouth disease and swine vesicular disease. Taken together, this is the first report that the R-GP has ...
Derse D, Dorn P, DaSilva L, Martarano L.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) encodes a tat gene which is closely related to the trans-activators encoded by the human and simian immunodeficiency viruses. Nucleotide sequence analysis of EIAV cDNA clones revealed that the tat message is composed of three exons; the first two encode tat and the third may encode rev.. Interestingly, EIAV tat translation is initiated at a non-AUG codon in the first exon of the message, perhaps allowing an additional level of gene regulation. The deduced amino acid sequence of EIAV tat, combined with functional analyses of tat cDNAs in transfected cells, ...
Coleman SJ, Gong G, Gaile DP, Chowdhary BP, Bailey E, Liu L, MacLeod JN.Loci for 9322 equine expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were predicted using the Comparative Mapping by Annotation and Sequence Similarity (Compass) strategy in order to evaluate the programme's ability to make accurate locus predictions in species with comparative gene maps. Using human genome sequence information from Build 35 (May 2004) and published marker information from the radiation hybrid (RH) maps for equine chromosomes (ECA) 17 and X, 162 ESTs were predicted to locations on ECA17 and 328 ESTs to locations on ECAX by selection of the 'top blast hit'. The locations of 30 ESTs were assesse...
Carleton CL, Donahue JM, Marteniuk JV, Sells SF, Timoney PJ.This study was undertaken to investigate the bacterial and fungal microflora on the external genitalia of a population of healthy male donkeys in the state of Michigan, USA. The aim was to identify and determine the frequency of occurrence of these microorganisms using seven different isolation media and standard microbiological procedures. The sites (urethral fossa [fossa glandis], dorsal diverticulum of the urethral sinus, distal urethra, and penile surface) in the distal reproductive tract were cultured and each isolated microorganism identified. Ten different genera of gram-positive bacter...
Jung HS, Yun JU, Jung MJ, Song HS, Kim YB, Kim Y, Kim JG, Jeon CO, Roh SW, Whon TW, Lee SH.A novel, anaerobic, Gram-stain-positive coccoid strain, CBA3646, was isolated from the faeces of a thoroughbred racehorse. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing yielded results indicative of CBA3646 representing a member of the genus , with the species most closely related to it being DSM 20463, with a similarity of 94.79 %. DNA-DNA relatedness and average nucleotide identity values between CBA3646 and DSM 20463 were 21.4 and 67.6 %, respectively. CBA3646 has a circular chromosomal genome of 1 709 189 bp (45.5 mol% DNA G+C content), containing 1652 genes in tota...
The genus is the only extant genus of the Equidae family, which belongs to Perissodactyla, an order of mammals characterized by an odd number of toes (odd-toes ungulates). Taking advantage of the latest release of the genome assembly, we studied, for the first time in two organisms belonging to the genus, the horse () and the donkey (), the T cell receptor gamma (TRG) locus encoding the gamma chain of the γδ T cell receptor. Forty-five Variable (TRGV) genes belonging to the seven IMGT-NC validated mammalian TRGV subgroups, 25 Joining (TRGJ) and 17 Constant (TRGC) genes organized in 17 V-J-...
Braga PRC, Dos Santos CA, Bertani AMJ, Vieira T, Amarante AF, Reis AD, Sacchi CT, Camargo CH, Ribeiro MG, Borges AS, Tiba-Casas MR.This study reports the genomic characterization of the multidrug resistant Salmonella Newport strain 195_20 recovered from the diarrheic faeces of a foal in Brazil and co-harbouring the mcr-9, blaCMY-2 and qnrB19 antibiotic resistance genes. Bacterial isolate positive for mobile colistin resistance gene (mcr-9) was submitted to antimicrobial susceptibility testing by disk diffusion and broth microdilution for colistin and polymyxin B. The isolate was submitted to whole genome sequencing by Illumina technology and Nanopore Sequencing. Conjugation assays, plasmid sizes determined by S1-PFGE and ...
Pechanec MY, Mienaltowski MJ.Equine tendinopathies are challenging because of the poor healing capacity of tendons commonly resulting in high re-injury rates. Within the tendon, different regions - tendon proper (TP) and peritenon (PERI) - contribute to the tendon matrix in differing capacities during injury and aging. Aged tendons have decreased repair potential; the underlying transcriptional and epigenetic changes that occur in the TP and PERI regions are not well understood. The objective of this study was to assess TP and PERI regional differences in adolescent, midlife, and geriatric horses using RNA sequencing and ...
Chien RC, Mingqun L, Yan Q, Randolph N, Huang W, Wellman M, Toribio R, Rikihisa Y.The tick-borne obligatory intracellular bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum infects humans as well as domesticated and wild animals, causing a febrile disease collectively called granulocytic anaplasmosis. The epidemiology and the host species specificity and zoonotic potential of A. phagocytophilum strains remain unclear. In this study, ankA (encoding ankyrin A) and p44 gene sequences of A. phagocytophilum were determined in clinical specimens from horses in Ohio and compared with those found in A. phagocytophilum strains from various hosts and geographic regions. With increasing numbers of s...
Sigurðardóttir H, Boije H, Albertsdóttir E, Kristjansson T, Rhodin M, Lindgren G, Eriksson S.In domesticated animals, many important traits are complex and regulated by a large number of genes, genetic interactions, and environmental influences. The ability of Icelandic horses to perform the gait 'pace' is largely influenced by a single mutation in the DMRT3 gene, but genetic modifiers likely exist. The aim of this study was to identify novel genetic factors that influence pacing ability and quality of the gait through a genome-wide association study (GWAS) and correlate new findings to previously identified quantitative trait loci (QTL) and mutations. Results: Three hundred and seven...
Palomino Lago E, Baird A, Blott SC, McPhail RE, Ross AC, Durward-Akhurst SA, Guest DJ.Fractures caused by bone overloading are a leading cause of euthanasia in Thoroughbred racehorses. The risk of fatal fracture has been shown to be influenced by both environmental and genetic factors but, to date, no specific genetic mechanisms underpinning fractures have been identified. In this study, we utilised a genome-wide polygenic risk score to establish an in vitro cell system to study bone gene regulation in horses at high and low genetic risk of fracture. Candidate gene expression analysis revealed differential expression of and genes in osteoblasts derived from high- and low-risk...
Weckman MJ, Karikoski NP, Raekallio MR, Box JR, Kvist L.Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) is a common welfare problem in horses worldwide. It is characterized by insulin dysregulation (ID), predisposition to laminitis and often obesity. EMS is multifactorial by nature, with both the environment and genetics contributing to the phenotype. Environmental factors, such as feeding and exercise, can be controlled, thus forming the basis for treatment and prevention. Genetic factors, by contrast, are less well-known and not easily controllable. The aim of this study was to identify potential genetic loci influencing ID/EMS in Finnhorses. A single-breed (Fin...
Ren W, Wang J, Zeng Y, Wang T, Meng J, Yao X.Kazakh mares have attracted widespread attention with their outstanding lactation traits. Lactation is a complex dynamic process regulated by multiple factors. The extensive application of transcriptome sequencing technology enables researchers to further explore this biological issue. This study selected three pregnant and three non-pregnant Kazakh mares as the research subject. Their mammary glands were taken for transcriptome sequencing. The results show that there are 9 lncRNAs and 122 mRNAs differentially expressed between the two groups. GO enrichment analysis shows that there are 175 mo...
Sadowska A, Molcan T, Wójtowicz A, Lukasik K, Pawlina-Tyszko K, Gurgul A, Ferreira-Dias G, Skarzynski DJ, Szóstek-Mioduchowska A.The establishment of the fetomaternal interface depends on precisely regulated communication between the conceptus and the uterine environment. Recent evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) may play an important role in embryo-maternal dialogue. This study aimed to determine the expression profile of endometrial miRNAs during days 26-28 of equine pregnancy. Additionally, the study aimed to predict target genes for differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs) and their potential role in embryo attachment, adhesion, and implantation. Using next-generation sequencing, we identified 81 DEmiRs betwe...
Gao Y, Packeiser EM, Wendt S, Sekora A, Cavalleri JV, Pratscher B, Alammar M, Hühns M, Brenig B, Junghanss C, Nolte I, Murua Escobar H.Malignant melanomas (MMs) are the abnormal proliferation of melanocytes and are one of the lethal skin cancers in humans, equines, and canines. Accordingly, MMs in companion animals can serve as naturally occurring animal models, completing conventional cancer models. The common constitutive activation of the MAPK and PI3K pathways in MMs has been described in all three species. Targeting the related pathways is considered a potential option in comparative oncologic approaches. Herein, we present a cross-species comparative analysis exposing a set of ten melanoma cell lines (one human, three e...
Whitfield-Cargile CM, Chung HC, Coleman MC, Cohen ND, Chamoun-Emanuelli AM, Ivanov I, Goldsby JS, Davidson LA, Gaynanova I, Ni Y, Chapkin RS.The equine gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome has been described in the context of various diseases. The observed changes, however, have not been linked to host function and therefore it remains unclear how specific changes in the microbiome alter cellular and molecular pathways within the GI tract. Further, non-invasive techniques to examine the host gene expression profile of the GI mucosa have been described in horses but not evaluated in response to interventions. Therefore, the objectives of our study were to (1) profile gene expression and metabolomic changes in an equine model of non-ster...
Santiviparat S, Swangchan-Uthai T, Stout TAE, Buranapraditkun S, Setthawong P, Taephatthanasagon T, Rodprasert W, Sawangmake C, Tharasanit T.To better understand molecular aspects of equine endometrial function, there is a need for advanced in vitro culture systems that more closely imitate the intricate 3-dimensional (3D) in vivo endometrial structure than current techniques. However, development of a 3D in vitro model of this complex tissue is challenging. This study aimed to develop an in vitro 3D endometrial tissue (3D-ET) with an epithelial cell phenotype optimized by treatment with a Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) inhibitor. Equine endometrial epithelial (eECs) and mesenchymal stromal (eMSCs) cells were isolated separat...
Meissner JM, Chmielińska A, Ofri R, Cisło-Sankowska A, Marycz K.Corneal ulcers, characterized by severe inflammation of the cornea, can lead to serious, debilitating complications and may be vision-threatening for horses. In this study, we aimed to investigate the role of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in corneal stem progenitor cell (CSSC) dysfunction and explore the potential of equine adipose-derived stromal stem cell (ASC)-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) to improve corneal wound healing. We showed that CSSCs expressed high levels of CD44, CD45, and CD90 surface markers, indicating their stemness. Supplementation of the ER-stress-inducer tunicam...
Furukawa R, Tozaki T, Kikuchi M, Ishige T, Takahashi Y, Fukui E, Kakoi H.Gene doping is prohibited in horse sports and can involve the administration of exogenous genes, called transgenes, to postnatal animals. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) methods have been developed to detect gene doping; however, these generally require DNA extraction from the plasma prior to qPCR. In this study, we developed two methods, direct droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) and nested ddPCR, to detect the equine erythropoietin (EPO) transgene without DNA extraction. Direct ddPCR used pretreated plasma and PCR to detect the EPO transgene spiked at 10 copies/μL. Nested ddPCR utilis...
Liu Y, Du M, Zhang L, Wang N, He Q, Cao J, Zhao B, Li X, Li B, Bou G, Zhao Y, Dugarjaviin M.Testicular development and spermatogenesis are tightly regulated by both coding and non-coding genes, with mRNA and lncRNA playing crucial roles in post-transcriptional gene expression regulation. However, there are significant differences in regulatory mechanisms before and after sexual maturity. Nevertheless, the mRNAs and lncRNAs in the testes of Mongolian horses have not been systematically identified. In this study, we first identified the testicular tissues of sexually immature and sexually mature Mongolian horses at the tissue and protein levels, and comprehensively analyzed the express...
Fedorka CE, El-Sheikh-Ali H, Scoggin KE, Coleman S, Humphrey EA, Troutt L, Troedsson MHT.The establishment of pregnancy involves a fine-tuned balance between protection and tolerance within the maternal immune system, as the female needs to accept a foreign antigen (the semi-allogenic fetus) while still being able to combat pathogens from the uterus. In the horse, the first uterine exposure to paternal antigens is during mating when sperm is introduced to the tissue and draining lymphatics of the uterus. Additionally, it has been suggested that seminal plasma and its proteins within it play an essential role in preparing the female tract for a suitable immunologic environment but ...
Wubulikasimu M, Liu J, Yao X, Meng J, Wang J, Zeng Y, Li L, Ren W.Kazakh horses, a distinguished breed in China known for their dual-purpose use in milk and meat production, exhibit early maturation, tolerance to coarse feeding, and strong resistance to environmental stress. However, the gene expression differences across various muscle tissues of Kazakh horses have yet to be elucidated. In this study, transcriptomic sequencing was performed on muscle tissues from three anatomical regions of Kazakh horses, including the longissimus dorsi (Gb), external oblique (Gf), and diaphragm (Gg) muscles. In the Gb and Gf groups, 426 differentially expressed genes (DEGs...
Sant'Anna Monteiro da Silva E, Sanches Oquendo Júnior P, Gaspari Oquendo FM, Stout TAE, de Ruijter-Villani M, Rodrigues TS, Beletti ME....Previous studies indicate a positive correlation between the duration of estrus prior to ovulation and likelihood of pregnancy in embryo recipient mares. However, the mechanisms by which the duration of estrus before may affect fertility remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the effect of different durations of estradiol exposure, prior to progesterone administration, on embryo viability in anestrous recipient mares, and endometrial expression of genes thought to influence embryo survival. Three groups of anestrous recipient mares treated with different duration of estradiol were used...
Wang T, Yang X, Ren W, Meng J, Yao X, Chu H, Yao R, Zhai M, Zeng Y.Training not only enhances the athletic performance of horses but also improves cardiac structure and function, strengthens cardiovascular adaptability, and reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases. However, the consequences of training on equine cardiac structure and function remain unclear. This study investigated the morphological, functional, genetic, and metabolic changes in the hearts of Yili horses divided into three groups: high athletic performance (agility group, AG), low athletic performance (ordinary group, OG), and untrained (untrained group, UN). The results showed remodeling ...
Nasiri-Foomani N, Hassani S, Najafi M, Samadi F.The optimization of cryopreservation media to reduce oxidative damage on post-thaw spermatozoa is crucial. This research aimed to assess the antioxidant properties of curcumin-loaded niosomal nanocarriers (CurLNN) on the functional characteristics, the relative expression of apoptotic genes, and flow cytometry assessments of apoptotic-like changes, reactive oxygen species production (ROS), mitochondrial membrane potential, and chromatin integrity in stallion spermatozoa following thawing. Twenty-five ejaculates were diluted in INRA96 freezing media supplemented with 20 μM of either curcumin ...
Elena ZK, Reimer C, Herrmann D, Klein C.Equine endometrial fibrosis is a leading cause of subfertility in aging mares. Fibrosis is a reparative response involving excess deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) and increasing tissue stiffness. Augmented rigidity itself can drive fibrosis, by stimulating transition from fibroblasts to myofibroblasts. Myofibroblasts release latent transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) from the ECM, thereby activating this profibrotic cytokine. Tissue culture polystyrene (TCP) is commonly used for in vitro experiments. The endometrium, however, is considerably softer than TCP. This study critical...
