Genetics in horses encompasses the study of hereditary traits and the genetic makeup that influences various characteristics and health conditions in equine populations. This field involves the analysis of genes and their functions, inheritance patterns, and the impact of genetic variations on traits such as coat color, performance ability, and susceptibility to diseases. Research in equine genetics employs techniques such as genome mapping, sequencing, and genetic testing to identify specific genes and mutations associated with these traits. This page gathers peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the genetic basis of equine traits, the methodologies used in genetic research, and the implications for breeding, health management, and conservation of horse breeds.
Denny MW.Are there absolute limits to the speed at which animals can run? If so, how close are present-day individuals to these limits? I approach these questions by using three statistical models and data from competitive races to estimate maximum running speeds for greyhounds, thoroughbred horses and elite human athletes. In each case, an absolute speed limit is definable, and the current record approaches that predicted maximum. While all such extrapolations must be used cautiously, these data suggest that there are limits to the ability of either natural or artificial selection to produce ever fast...
Viklund A, Thorén Hellsten E, Näsholm A, Strandberg E, Philipsson J.There are two types of 1-day field tests available for young Swedish Warmblood sport horses; one test for 3-year olds and one more advanced test for 4-year olds. Conformation, gaits and jumping ability are evaluated at both tests. Studies on various genetic parameters were based on about 20 000 tested horses. The data for 4-year olds consisted of 30 years of testing. The aims of the study were to estimate genetic parameters for results from different time periods, and to estimate heritabilities for, and genetic correlations between, traits scored in the two tests. The judgement of traits was s...
Stock KF, Distl O.Information on 26 434 German Warmblood horses born between 1992 and 2001 was used for multivariate genetic analyses of radiographic health, conformation and performance traits to compare different modes of single- and multiple-trait selection of sires. Results of standardized radiological examinations of 5155 Hanoverian Warmblood horses, conformation evaluations from studbook inspections of 20 603 mares, and performance evaluations from mare performance tests and auction horse inspections of 16 098 horses were used for multivariate genetic analyses. Genetic parameters were estimated with restr...
Piro M, Benjouad A, Tligui NS, El Allali K, El Kohen M, Nabich A, Ouragh L.Severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID) of horses is an autosomal, recessive hereditary disease occurring among Arabian or crossbred Arabian horses. The genetic defect responsible was previously identified as a 5-base pair deletion in the gene encoding the catalytic subunit of the DNA dependant protein kinase (DNA-PKcs). This study was carried out to determine the frequency of SCID and identify horses carrying the gene for SCID among Arabian and Arabian crossbred stallions and mares in Morocco using a DNA-based test. Twenty-one horses were SCID carriers: 14 (7%) Arabians, 6 (4%) Arab-B...
Govaere J, Hoogewijs M, De Schauwer C, Van Zeveren A, Smits K, Cornillie P, de Kruif A.Naturally occurring monozygotic twins are extremely rare in the horse. This paper describes an abortion in a mare after 260 days of pregnancy with monozygotic twins, one a fresh foal and the other a mummified foal.
Ahern BJ, Parvizi J, Boston R, Schaer TP.Review the literature for single site cartilage defect research and evaluate the respective strengths and weaknesses of different preclinical animal models. Methods: A literature search for animal models evaluating single site cartilage defects was performed. Variables tabulated and analyzed included animal species, age and number, defect depth and diameter and study duration. Cluster analyses were then used to separate animals with only distal femoral defects into similar groups based on defect dimensions. Representative human studies were included allowing comparison of common clinical lesio...
Gray ME.Infanticide by adult males occurs in a variety of species. While infanticidal attacks have been documented in several equid species in captivity, it has never been witnessed in free-roaming feral horses. I report an infanticide attempt by a free-living feral stallion on a recently born female foal. The stallion picked up the foal by the shoulders, tossed it around twice and bit in on the neck several times. The dam of the foal charged the stallion and successfully protected her foal from additional attacks. The foal survived the attack and later weaned successfully. The stallion recently took ...
Hassan AA, Ulbegi-Mohyla H, Kanbar T, Alber J, Lämmler C, Abdulmawjood A, Zschöck M, Weiss R.The present study was designed to characterize phenotypically and genotypically seven Arcanobacterium haemolyticum strains obtained from infections of six horses. All seven strains showed the cultural and biochemical properties typical of A. haemolyticum and were susceptible to most of the antibiotics tested. The species identification could be confirmed by amplification and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region and by PCR amplification of species-specific parts of the gene encoding phospholipase D in A. haemolyticum. Use of the latter could possibly imp...
Mugnier S, Boittin S, Douet C, Monget P, Magistrini M, Goudet G.In human and rodents, sperm-zona pellucida binding is mediated by a sperm surface Galactosyltransferase that recognizes N-Acetylglucosamine residues on a glycoprotein ZPC. In large domestic mammals, the role of these molecules remains unclear: in bovine, they are involved in sperm-zona pellucida binding, whereas in porcine, they are not necessary. Our aim was to clarify the role of Galactosyltransferase and N-Acetylglucosamine residues in sperm-zona pellucida binding in ungulates. For this purpose, we analyzed the mechanism of sperm-zona pellucida interaction in a third ungulate: the horse, si...
Cortés-Gutiérrez EI, Crespo F, Serres-Dalmau C, Gutiérrez de las Rozas AL, Dávila-Rodríguez MI, López-Fernández C, Gósalvez J.Sperm DNA fragmentation (sDF) is an important parameter to assessing sperm quality. Information about sperm quality is not available for donkeys, especially in some breeds at risk of extinction. The objectives of this research were to test the four commercial variants of sperm chromatin dispersion test (SCD; sperm Halomax test), originally developed to assess sDF in boars, bulls, rams and stallions, in order to scrutinize their applicability in the study of sDF in a donkey breed at risk of extinction (Zamorano-Leonesa), for which there is no specific test available to analyze sperm at present....
Graves KT, Henney PJ, Ennis RB.Laminin 5 is a heterotrimeric basement membrane protein integral to the structure and function of the dermal-epidermal junction. It consists of three glycoprotein subunits: the alpha3, beta3 and gamma2 chains, which are encoded by the LAMA3, LAMB3 and LAMC2 genes respectively. A mutation in any of these genes results in the condition known as hereditary junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB). A 6589-bp deletion spanning exons 24-27 was found in the LAMA3 gene in American Saddlebred foals born with the skin-blistering condition epitheliogenesis imperfecta. The deletion confirms that this autoso...
Heinrich A, Riethmüller D, Gloger M, Schusser GF, Giese M, Ulbert S.Equine Arteritis Virus (EAV) belongs to the Arteriviridae and causes viral arteritis in horses. In an attempt to develop novel and save therapies against the infection it was tested whether EAV is susceptible to RNA interference (RNAi) in an equine in vitro system. Horse cells were transfected with chemically synthesized small interfering RNA oligonucleotides (siRNAs) and challenged with EAV. Application of these siRNAs led to a significant protection of the cells, and virus titers decreased drastically. siRNAs derived from DNA plasmids expressing small hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) were also effectiv...
Ghanem YM, Fukushi H, Ibrahim ES, Ohya K, Yamaguchi T, Kennedy M.Viruses related to equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) were isolated from an aborted fetus of an onager (Equus hemionus) in 1984, an aborted fetus of Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi) in 1984 and a Thomson's gazelle (Gazella thomsoni) with nonsuppurative encephalitis in 1996, all in the USA. The mother of the onager fetus and the gazelle were kept near plains zebras (Equus burchelli). In phylogenetic trees based on the nucleotide sequences of the genes for glycoproteins B (gB), I (gI), and E (gE), and teguments including ORF8 (UL51), ORF15 (UL45), and ORF68 (US2), the onager, Grevy's zebra and gazell...
Loftus JP, Johnson PJ, Belknap JK, Pettigrew A, Black SJ.Inflammation and dysregulation of endogenous matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) production are implicated in the development of equine laminitis. In this study, we examine quantitative relationships among levels of leukocyte-derived proMMP-9 and MMP-9, lamellar proMMP-2 and MMP-2, and expression of proMMP-2 processing enzymes, MT1-MMP/PACE4, as steps towards determining whether inflammation and dysregulation of endogenous MMP production are independent or co-dependent processes. Methods: Archived samples of lamellae from horses with naturally acquired laminitis (n = 12), and from horses administer...
Choi SK, Cho CY, Yeon SH, Cho BW, Cho GJ.Genetic characterization of the Jeju horse (JH) was performed to construct a correct pedigree of the JH family. A total of 111 horses including 79 JH were genotyped using 20 microsatellite loci. The number of alleles varied from 5 to 11 (mean 7.45) in the JH. The observed heterozygosity and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.293 to 0.891 and from 0.357 to 0.841, respectively. The polymorphic information contents (PIC) ranged from 0.335 to 0.816. AHT4, ASB2, ASB17, ASB23, CA425, HMS2, HMS3, HTG10, LEX3 and VHL20 loci had relatively high PIC values (> 0.7). The total exclusion probability ...
Koyago M, Nakada K, Tsunoda N, Moriyoshi M, Sawamukai Y.The morphology of spermatozoa of modern Thoroughbred stallions in Japan was investigated during the breeding season. A total of 299 semen samples were collected from the penises of 16 stallions immediately after service. The rate of abnormalities in sperm heads and tails, spermatozoa with cytoplasmic droplets and slides with medusa cells to total observed slides in each stallion were 3.9 +/- 2.1%, 11.5 +/- 5.9%, 2.4 +/- 2.6% and 20.1%, respectively. The values for the area, length, width and aspect ratio of the stallion sperm head were 12.54 +/- 1.34 microm(2), 5.93 +/- 0.40 microm, 2.69 +/- 0...
Levine JM, Ngheim PP, Levine GJ, Cohen ND.To determine sex, breed, and age distributions in a population of horses with cervical vertebral compressive myelopathy (CVCM), compared with contemporaneous control horses. Methods: Retrospective case-control study. Methods: 811 horses with CVCM and 805 control horses. Methods: The Veterinary Medical Database was searched to identify horses with CVCM and contemporaneous control horses registered between July 1974 and August 2007. Admission date, admitting institution, sex, breed, age at the time of registration in the database, weight, and discharge status (alive, died, or euthanized) were re...
Scott Weese J.Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an emerging problem in companion animals, because of difficult-to-treat infections, possible pressure to use antimicrobials that are important in human medicine, and potential zoonotic transmission. The extent and importance of AMR in companion animals are poorly understood, in part because of limited surveillance; however, it is clear that resistance is problematic in many pathogens and commensals, including staphylococci, enterococci, Escherichia coli and Salmonella.
Olafsdóttir G, Svansson V, Ingvarsson S, Marti E, Torsteinsdóttir S.One of the prerequisite for developing DNA vaccines for horses are vectors that are efficiently expressed in horse cells. We have analysed the ectopic expression of the human serum albumin gene in primary horse cells from different tissues. The vectors used are of pcDNA and pUC origin and include the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter. The pUC vectors contain CMV intron A whereas the pcDNA vectors do not. Insertion of intron A diminished the expression from the pcDNA vectors whereas insertion of a Kozak sequence upstream of the gene in two types of pUC vectors increased significantly the in vitro ...
Tsitsimpikou C, Spyridaki MH, Georgoulakis I, Kouretas D, Konstantinidou M, Georgakopoulos CG.Flurbiprofen and its main acidic metabolites were detected in equine urine after a single-dose administration of 500 mg flurbiprofen to two 2.5-3.5-years-old mares, in order to be used in equine doping control routine analysis. The urine levels of the parent drug were determined using GC/MS. Five acidic metabolites were found in the urine. The structure of the proposed metabolites was confirmed by HRMS accurate mass measurements. The highest flurbiprofen concentration was 204 mug ml(-1) at 1-3 h post administration. Flurbiprofen could be detected for 24-37 h in urine using the standard screeni...
Pavlinov IIa, Nanova OG, Spasskaia NN.Interrelations between some forms of group variation (FGVs) (age, sex, geographic, inter-species, differences among breeds) of 12 to 15 measurable skull traits are studied in 6 mammal species (pine marten, polar fox, Przewalskii horse, and 3 jird species) by means of dispersion analysis (model III, MANOVA). The above FGVs are considered as factors in the MANOVA, and skull traits are considered as dependent variables. To obtaine commeasurables estimates for the FGVs, each of them is assessed numerically as a portion of its dispersion in the entire morphological disparity defined for each charac...
de Mestre AM, Miller D, Roberson MS, Liford J, Chizmar LC, McLaughlin KE, Antczak DF.The objective of this study was to identify transcription factors associated with differentiation of the chorionic girdle, the invasive form of equine trophoblast. The expression patterns of five transcription factors were determined on a panel of conceptus tissues from early horse pregnancy. Tissues from Days 15 through 46 were tested. Eomesodermin (EOMES), glial cells missing homologue 1 (GCM1), heart and neural crest derivatives expressed transcript 1 (HAND1), caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2), and distal-less homeobox 3 (DLX3) were detected in horse trophoblast, but the expression patterns for...
Siddiqui MA, Gastal EL, Ju JC, Gastal MO, Beg MA, Ginther OJ.Horse oocytes (n = 37) were recovered in vivo from pre-ovulatory follicles 30 h after an ovulation-inducing hCG injection and were examined by fluorescent staining and confocal microscopy. Percentages of metaphase-I (MI), metaphase-II (MII) and atypical oocytes were 11%, 78% and 11% respectively. Microtubules were concentrated in the meiotic spindle in both MI and MII oocytes. Chromosomes in the metaphase plate were anchored at the equatorial region of the spindle. Spindle orientation was perpendicular to the oolema in all MI oocytes, whereas in MII oocytes, 66% were parallel and 34% were perp...
Ginther OJ, Jacob JC, Gastal MO, Gastal EL, Beg MA.Ablation of follicles > or = 6 mm in diameter and treatment with PGF2alpha 10 days after ovulation were used to induce the development of ovulatory waves. Comparisons were made between induced waves with one (33 waves, 72%) and multiple (13 waves, 28%) ovulatory follicles. Diameter deviation was defined as the separation of follicles into dominant and subordinate categories. Multiple ovulatory follicles were preceded by more (p or = 20 mm at the beginning of deviation, higher LH preceding deviation (approached significance, p < 0.08), lower (p < 0.05) concentrations of FSH on the day...
Phetudomsinsuk K, Sirinarumitr K, Laikul A, Pinyopummin A.One of the semen quality parameters use to determine fertility is the percentage of sperm that express normal morphology. Sperm head morphometry is also correlated with fertility. The objectives of this study were 1) to investigate the sperm morphology and normal sperm head morphometry of Thai native crossbred stallions, and 2) to compare our results with the characteristics of proven fertile sperm from purebred stallions. Methods: Semen samples were collected monthly from nine stallions, of which five were Thai native crossbred (T) and four were purebred of proven fertility (F: F1 was a Stand...
Metz GE, Serena MS, Ocampos GM, Panei CJ, Fernandez VL, Echeverría MG.Equine arteritis virus (EAV) was isolated from a testicle of the presumable first stallion infected with EAV in Argentina. This virus isolate (named LT-LP-ARG) was confirmed by GP5-specific PCR and indirect immunofluorescence assays. The PCR product was sequenced, and the phylogenetic analysis revealed that the LT-LP-ARG strain of EAV forms a monophyletic group, together with other strains previously isolated in our laboratory (LP02 group). However, all Argentinean EAV strains belong to a polyphyletic group. We believe that the virus isolate presented in this report could be the origin of EAV ...
Siddiqui MA, Gastal EL, Gastal MO, Beg MA, Ginther OJ.Follicle blood flow, follicular-fluid and plasma hormone concentrations, and oocyte quality were studied 30 h after an ovulation-inducing hCG treatment when the pre-ovulatory follicle was 32 mm. Mares were grouped as positive (n = 16) and negative (n = 44) for hCG antibodies before the experimental hCG treatment. Percentage of the follicle wall with blood flow signals was less (p < 0.05) in the antibody positive group than in the negative group. The concentrations of follicular-fluid oestradiol and free IGF1, and plasma oestradiol were greater (p < 0.001), and follicular-fluid progesterone (p ...
Marti E, Ehrensperger F, Burger D, Ousey J, Day MJ, Wilson AD.Immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediates the immune response to parasites, but can also cause allergies. In humans maternal IgE is not transferred to cord blood and high levels of cord blood IgE are associated with subsequent allergy. In horses, both maternal IgG and IgE are transferred via colostrum; the IgE levels in the mare's serum, the colostrum and the foal's serum are correlated but the consequences of IgE transfer to foals are not known. By about 6 weeks of age the levels of IgE in foal serum have dropped to a nadir, at 6 months of age the level of IgE has risen only very slightly and is no lon...
Bailey E, Albright DG, Henney PJ.Foals with the Ca blood group antigen on their RBC were given colostrum with anti-Ca antibodies (6 foals) or colostrum without anti-Ca antibodies (6 foals). The PCV were determined at birth and 2, 4, and 6 days after birth for the foals in each group. Significant differences were not observed for the PCV between the 2 groups, indicating that foals were not adversely affected by ingesting colostrum with the anti-Ca antibody. Standardbred mares without the Aa blood group antigen were evaluated to determine whether production of anti-Ca antibodies influenced production of anti-Aa antibodies. Of 2...
Pepin K, Momose F, Ishida N, Nagata K.Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), a molecular chaperone, is ubiquitous and involved in numerous cellular processes. To contribute to the relatively small collection of vertebrate Hsp90 sequences in the gene data bank, we cloned and sequenced horse (Equus caballus) Hsp90 alpha and beta cDNAs. This enabled identification of horse-specific primers for development of a convenient PCR-based method that could monitor horse stress tolerance. We analyzed the sequence data comparatively and phylogenetically with other Hsp90 cDNA sequences, and identified vertebrate-specific and isoform-specific conserved ...
Westermann CM, Dorland L, van Diggelen OP, Schoonderwoerd K, Bierau J, Waterham HR, van der Kolk JH.Earlier research on ten horses suffering from the frequently fatal disorder atypical myopathy showed that MADD (multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency) is the biochemical derangement behind atypical myopathy. From five horses that died as a result of this disease and seven healthy control horses, urine and plasma were collected ante mortem and muscle biopsies were obtained immediately post-mortem (2 patients and 7 control horses), to analyse creatine, purine and carbohydrate metabolism as well as oxidative phosphorylation. In patients, the mean creatine concentration in urine was increased...
Luttman AM, Komine M, Thaiwong T, Carpenter T, Ewart SL, Kiupel M, Langohr IM, Venta PJ.Tetranucleotide and pentanucleotide short tandem repeat (hereafter termed tetraSTR and pentaSTR) polymorphisms have properties that make them desirable for DNA profiling and paternity testing. However, certain species, such as the horse, have far fewer tetraSTRs than other species and for this reason dinucleotide STRs (diSTRs) have become the standard for DNA profiling in horses, despite being less desirable for technical reasons. During our testing of a series of candidate genes as potentially underlying a heritable condition characterized by megaesophagus in the Friesian horse breed, we foun...
Rapacz-Leonard A, Leonard M, Chmielewska-Krzesińska M, Paździor-Czapula K, Janowski T.Major histocompatibility protein class I (MHC-I) is believed to be expressed in the horse allantochorion only in limited areas at limited times. However, its expression has only been investigated in early pregnancy with non-quantitative techniques that cannot reliably detect small amounts of protein. To quantify the relative expression of MHC-I in the allantochorion and endometrium during days 90-240 of pregnancy (PREG), parturition with physiological delivery of fetal membranes (PHYS), and parturition with retention of these membranes (FMR). Also, to visualize protein expression and determine...
Anderson JL, Sloss BL, Meece JK.Several studies have shown that Blastomyces dermatitidis, the etiologic agent of blastomycosis, is a genetically diverse pathogen. Blastomycosis is a significant health issue in humans and other mammals. Veterinary and human isolates matched with epidemiological case data from the same geographic area and time period were used to determine: (i) if differences in genetic diversity and structure exist between clinical veterinary and human isolates of B. dermatitidis and (ii) if comparable epidemiologic features differ among veterinary and human blastomycosis cases. Results: Genetic typing of 301...
Mariat D, Oustry-Vaiman A, Cribiu EP, Raudsepp T, Chowdhary BP, Guérin G.In order to increase the number of markers on the horse cytogenetic map and expand the integration with the linkage map, an equine BAC library was screened for genes and for microsatellites. Eighty-nine intra-exon primers were designed from consensus gene sequences in documented species. After PCR screening, 38 clones containing identified genes were isolated and FISH mapped. These data allowed us to refine the available Zoo-FISH results, to define ten new conserved cytogenetic segments and expand two others, thus leading to the identification of a total of 26 conserved segments between horse ...
Winton CL, McMahon R, Hegarty MJ, McEwan NR, Davies-Morel MCG, Morgan C, Nash DM.The UK and Ireland have many native pony breeds with historical and cultural importance as well as being a source of uncharacterized genetic diversity. However, there is a lack of comprehensive research investigating their genetic diversity and phylogenetic interrelationships. Many studies contain a limited number of pony breeds or small sample sizes for these breeds. This may result in erroneous grouping of pony breeds that otherwise have intricate interrelationships with each other and are not evaluated correctly when placed as a token subset of a larger dataset. This is the first study that...
Wimmer-Scherr C, Taminiau B, Renaud B, van Loon G, Palmers K, Votion D, Amory H, Daube G, Cesarini C.Equine atypical myopathy (AM) is caused by hypoglycin A (HGA) and methylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG) intoxication resulting from the ingestion of seeds or seedlings of some Acer tree species. Interestingly, not all horses pasturing in the same toxic environment develop signs of the disease. In other species, it has been shown that the intestinal microbiota has an impact on digestion, metabolism, immune stimulation and protection from disease. The objective of this study was to characterize and compare fecal microbiota of horses suffering from AM and healthy co-grazers. Furthermore, potential d...
Wu L, Ou J, Cai S, Ji J, Ren Z, Shao R, Li S.Equine Hepacivirus (EqHV) is a newly discovered equine virus that is classified under the Hepacivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family. There are three sub-types of EqHV worldwide namely; sub-types 1-3. The majority of EqHV sub-type 1 strains were found in China. While different sub-types have been found in Japan and USA, therefore, to investigate whether the other sub-types of EqHV strains were present in China, a total of 60 horse serum samples were collected and screened for EqHV RNA through RT-PCR. The results revealed that 19 serum samples were RNA-positive (19/60) and the EqHV detection ...
Horecky C, Horecka E, Futas J, Janova E, Horin P, Knoll A.Genotyping microsatellite markers represents a standard, relatively easy, and inexpensive method of assessing genetic diversity of complex genomic regions in various animal species, such as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and/or natural killer cell receptor (NKR) genes. MHC-linked microsatellite markers have been identified and some of them were used for characterizing MHC polymorphism in various species, including horses. However, most of those were MHC class II markers, while MHC class I and III sub-regions were less well covered. No tools for studying genetic diversity of NKR com...
Xie J, Tong P, Zhang A, Yan Y, Zhang L, Song X, Chen J, Zhai S, Shaya N, Wang D, Su Z, Kuang L.In May 2018, a 8 year old thoroughbred mare died at an equestrian club in Changji, Xinjiang, China. The horse had been imported from the United States in 2013. She became pregnant in December 2016 but, after foaling, gradually lost weight and died in May 2018. This study aim to identify the pathogen, who cause of horse death, using virome. Results: We have identified an Equ1-like virus from the fecal virome of a dead thoroughbred mare in China. Full genomic sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the virus, tentatively named "kirkovirus Cj-7-7", showed that it was closely related to kirkovirus...
Malik P, Pálfi V, Bálint A.Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) is a major pathogen of horses with worldwide distribution that can cause various clinical signs ranged from mild respiratory disease to neurological symptoms. Comparison of neuropathogenic and non-neuropathogenic EHV-1 strains revealed that a single non-synonymous nucleotide substitution (A/G2254) in the ORF30 region is associated with the altered functions of the viral DNA polymerase and therefore the neuropathogenicity of EHV-1 virus strains. The aim of the present study was the development of a new differentiation method of this particular single nucleotide poly...
Stewart ID, White IM, Gilmour AR, Thompson R, Woolliams JA, Brotherstone S.Eventing competitions in Great Britain (GB) comprise three disciplines, each split into four grades, yielding 12 discipline-grade traits. As there is a demand for tools to estimate (co)variance matrices with a large number of traits, the aim of this work was to investigate different methods to produce large (co)variance matrices using GB eventing data. Data from 1999 to 2008 were used and penalty points were converted to normal scores. A sire model was utilised to estimate fixed effects of gender, age and class, and random effects of sire, horse and rider. Three methods were used to estimate (...
Walshe N, Mulcahy G, Hodgkinson J, Peachey L.The importance of the gut microbiome for host health has been the subject of intense research over the last decade. In particular, there is overwhelming evidence for the influence of resident microbiota on gut mucosal and systemic immunity; with significant implications for the outcome of gastrointestinal (GI) infections, such as parasitic helminths. The horse is a species that relies heavily on its gut microbiota for GI and overall health, and disturbances in this complex ecosystem are often associated with life-threatening disease. In turn, nearly all horses harbour parasitic helminths from ...
Theoret CL, Barber SM, Gordon JR.To describe the localization of immunoreactive transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 in both normal skin and full-thickness dermal wounds of the limb and the thorax of the horse. Methods: Six full-thickness excisional wounds were created on the lateral aspect of one metacarpal region and on the midthoracic area of each horse. Sequentially collected tissue specimens from wound margins were assessed for TGF-beta1 expression by immunohistochemistry. Methods: Four horses (2 to 4 years of age). Methods: A neutralizing monoclonal anti-human TGF-beta1 antibody was used to detect the spatial expressi...
Radovic L, Remer V, Krcal C, Rigler D, Brem G, Rayane A, Driss K, Benamar M, Machmoum M, Piro M, Krischke D, Butler-Wemken IV, Wallner B.In horses, demographic patterns are complex due to historical migrations and eventful breeding histories. Particularly puzzling is the ancestry of the North African horse, a founding horse breed, shaped by numerous influences throughout history. A genetic marker particularly suitable to investigate the paternal demographic history of populations is the non-recombining male-specific region of the Y chromosome (MSY). Using a recently established horse MSY haplotype (HT) topology and KASP™ genotyping, we illustrate MSY HT spectra of 119 Barb and Arab-Barb males, collected from the Maghreb regio...
Orino K, Miura T, Muto S, Watanabe K.Canine and equine ferritin H and L subunit cDNA clones were obtained using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and TA cloning from various tissues. Canine liver and spleen ferritin H subunit cDNA clones contained an open reading frame for the same 182-amino acid protein as that reported in canine brain ferritin H subunit cDNA although there were substitutions in the 3'-noncoding regions. Ferritin L subunit cDNA clones from canine liver, spleen, and kidney showed identical coding sequences encoding the 174-amino acid protein except for a single nucleotide substitution in ki...
Posta J, Komlósi I, Mihók S.The aims of this study were to estimate phenotypic and genetic parameters for a range of traits in Hungarian Sport Horses, and to compare several methods of estimating breeding value (BV) in this breed. The analyses were based on the Hungarian Sport Horse Studbook, results of self-performance tests (SPTs) and show-jumping competition results. An SPT comprises subjective judgement of conformation traits, movement analysis traits and free-jumping performance, assessed via ordinal scores. Genetic parameters of SPTs were estimated with an animal model. Different measurements of the competition per...
Zhang B, Huang H, Wang H, Zhang D, Chu H, Ma X, Ge Y, Ente M, Li K.Gasterophilus species are widely distributed around the world. The larvae of these flies parasitize the digestive tract of equids and cause damage, hindering horse breeding and protection of endangered species. However, study of the genetic structure of geographically distinct Gasterophilus populations is lacking. Here, we analyzed the genetic diversity of Gasterophilus pecorum, G. intestinalis, G. nasalis and G. nigricornis from three typical grasslands (meadow, desert and alpine steppes) in China as compared to published sequences from Italy, Poland and China (Daqing and Yili), based on the ...
Rahimi-Mianji G, Nejati-Javaremi A, Farhadi A.The present study was undertaken to genetically evaluate Turkmen horses for genetic diversity and to evaluate whether they have experienced any recent genetic bottlenecks. A total of 565 individuals from Turkmen horses were characterized for within breed diversity using 12 microsatellite markers. The estimated mean allelic diversity was (9.42 ± 1.78) per locus, with a total of 131 alleles in genotyped samples. A high level of genetic variability within this breed was observed in terms of high values of effective number of alleles (4.70 ± 1.36), observed heterozygosity (0.757 ± 0.19), expect...
Hussein H, Boyaka P, Dulin J, Russell D, Smanik L, Azab M, Bertone AL.Selective inhibition of Cathepsin K (CatK) has a promising therapeutic potential for diseases associated with bone loss and osseous inflammation, such as osteoarthritis, periodontitis, and osteoporosis. In horses, stress-related bone injuries are common and accompanied by bone pain and inflammation resulting in excessive bone resorption and periostitis. VEL-0230 is a highly selective inhibitor of CatK that significantly decreased bone resorption and increased bone formation biomarkers. The goal of this study was to demonstrate the presence of CatK in equine bone and a simultaneous influence on...
Scheurer L, Bachofen C, Herteman N, Hilbe M, Wolfer N, Schoster A.This case series describes three cases of equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis (EMPF) diagnosed at the Clinic for Equine Internal Medicine at the University of Zurich between 2012 and 2017. Current information on etiology and treatment options are presented. Two horses showed mild signs of chronic lower respiratory tract disease and one horse was presented with acute signs of disease including recurrent fever spikes and tachypnea. Diagnosis was achieved by physical examination, radiographic findings, and PCR testing for equine herpesviruses (EHV) of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid or lung...
The Journal of parasitologyApril 25, 2001
Volume 87, Issue 2 442-445 doi: 10.1645/0022-3395(2001)087[0442:ETPIGN]2.0.CO;2
Medica DL, Sukhdeo MV.Microparasite virulence (the potential to cause harm in the host) is thought to be regulated by a direct trade-off with pathogen transmission potential, but it is unclear whether similar trade-offs occur in macroparasites (helminths). In this analysis, the transmission potentials of 5 nematode species (order Strongylida), known to differ in their virulence, were estimated using an index based on egg production and larval survivability. Virulence estimates were based on the minimum number of worms that cause host death. In nematode species where mature adults cause pathology (trichonematidic de...
Peng Z, Shen D, Zhang D, Li X, Wang L, Zhai Q, Hou Z, Li H.The equine Parascaris spp. is large, parasitic nematodes, and predominantly focuses on the intestine of foals and young weanlings. There are two roundworms, Parascaris equorum and Parascaris univalens, recognized among equine hosts. In this study, all fifty-nine Parascaris worms were harvested from three different equine hosts (twenty specimens from Equus zebra, twenty specimens from E. caballus, and nineteen specimens from E. asinus). The ribosomal gene (ITS) and mitochondrial genes (cox1 and nadh1) were amplified to identify and genetically characterize these worms. Analysis of ITS sequences...
Yun J, Oyungerel B, Kong HS.This study aimed to identify the genetic diversity and population structure of Mongolian horse populations according to the province of residence (Khentii, KTP; Uvs, USP; Omnogovi and Dundgovi, GOP; Khovsgol, KGP) using 14 microsatellite (MS) markers. Methods: A total of 269 whole blood samples were obtained from the four populations (KTP, USP, GOP, KGP) geographically distinct provinces. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was conducted using 14 MS markers (AHT4, ASB2, ASB17, ASB23, CA425, HMS1, HMS2, HMS3, HMS6, HMS7, HTG4, HTG6, HTG7, and VHL20), as recommended by the International So...
Li Y, Yao J, Chang M, Nikolic D, Yu L, Yager JD, Mesecar AD, van Breemen RB, Bolton JL.Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) plays an important role in the inactivation of biologically active and toxic catechols. It has been shown that COMT is genetically polymorphic with a wild-type and variant form where a valine has been substituted with a methionine. Several, but not all, epidemiological studies have shown that women, homozygous with the variant form, have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Previously, we showed that 4-hydroxyequilenin (4-OHEN), a cytotoxic/genotoxic equine catechol estrogen metabolite, is both a substrate of COMT and an irreversible inhibitor of t...
Alexander CS, Keller H.Over 130 cases of equine periodic ophthalmia (p.o.), which were treated as in-patients at the Equine Clinic of the Free University of Berlin in the last 35 years, were examined statistically in relation to the age and gender of the animals involved as well as to the development of the illness and the season in which it arose. As regards aetiology, the extraction of 71 affected Trotters was investigated. Antibodies to toxoplasmosis, leptospirosis and intestinal parasites were found only in some of the patients. Younger animals, aged between one and four years, and male animals (63.6%) were pred...
Manao G, Camici G, Stefani M, Berti A, Cappugi G, Liguri G, Nassi P, Ramponi G.Acylphosphatase was purified from horse muscle by a new procedure involving an affinity chromatography step and subsequent ion-exchange chromatography. This procedure was considerably milder than the preceding one, gave an overall yield of about 60% of activity and permitted isolation of three molecular forms with acylphosphatase activity. All these enzymatic forms are tightly bound to Sepharose 4B-linked anti-horse muscle acylphosphatase antibodies. Two of these forms (Ho1 and Ho3) are present in larger amounts: Ho1 corresponds to the enzyme purified according to the older procedure; this enz...
Pratscher B, Hainisch EK, Sykora S, Brandt S, Jindra C.There is a large body of evidence supporting bovine papillomavirus types 1 and 2 (BPV1; BPV2) as aetiological agents of equine sarcoids. However, there is conflicting data regarding BPV1/2 infection in sarcoid-free equids. Objective: Data obtained between 2007 and 2017 by BPV1/2 screening of sarcoids and nonsarcoid tumours vs. samples from healthy equids are presented to help clarify this issue. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Tumour material obtained from horses, donkeys and mules with confirmed sarcoids (n = 130), suspected sarcoids (n = 120), or nonsarcoid lesions (n = 70), s...
