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.
Sironi G, Riccaboni P, Mertel L, Cammarata G, Brooks DE.The expression of p53 protein was investigated in eight formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded conjunctival squamous cell carcinomas of five horses and one cow, dog and cat each by an immunohistochemical procedure in order to evaluate protein overexpression. Anti-human p53 protein mouse monoclonal antibodies known to be cross-reactive with p53 protein of the animal species examined were used. Positive p53 nuclear immunostaining was detected in five equine, one bovine and one feline cases. Conversely, no p53 immunostaining was found in the only canine case examined. These results demonstrate a frequ...
Pellegrini M, Corda M, Manca L, Olianas A, Sanna MT, Fais A, De Rosa MC, Bertonati C, Masala B, Giardina B.A study was made of the haemoglobin (Hb) system from the Sardinian dwarf horse (Equus caballus jara), one of the last surviving wild horse species in Europe. The oxygen binding properties of the whole haemolysate and of the four different horse Hbs, separated by ion-exchange chromatography, were studied with special regard to the effect of chloride, 2,3-diphosphoglycerate and lactate. Results indicate that no significant functional differences exist between the four Hb components of horse haemolysate. Moreover, the molecular basis of the intrinsically low oxygen affinity and of the weak intera...
Lieto LD, Cothran EG.A cDNA library was built using RNA extracted from the skin tissue of an adult horse. The library was primed with oligo (dT) and sequences were directionally inserted in order to produce an expression library. The library has 5.8X 10(5) plaque forming units with 99.6% recombinant phage. The average insert size is 1.3 Kbp. Three hundred and thirteen expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were generated from sequencing of the 5 prime end of randomly selected skin cDNA clones. The ESTs were sequenced on an ABI 377 using Big-Dye chemistry. A similarity search was performed on each EST using the NCBI non-re...
Suire S, Stewart F, Beauchamp J, Kennedy MW.The equine conceptus is surrounded by a fibrous capsule that persists until about day 20 of pregnancy, whereupon the capsule is lost, the conceptus attaches to the endometrium and placentation proceeds. Before attachment, the endometrium secretes in abundance a protein of the lipocalin family, uterocalin. The cessation of secretion coincides with the end of the period during which the conceptus is enclosed in its capsule, suggesting that uterocalin is essential for the support of the embryo before direct contact between maternal and foetal tissues is established. Using recombinant protein and ...
Url A, Bauder B, Thalhammer J, Nowotny N, Kolodziejek J, Herout N, Fürst S, Weissenböck H.Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL) is an inherited, neurodegenerative disorder with fatal outcome in humans. It has also been described in some animal species; this is the first report of NCL in equines. Three horses showed developmental retardation, slow movements and loss of appetite at the age of six months. Neurological symptoms, as well as visual failure in one case, were noticed at the age of 1 year. Due to slowly progressing deterioration, euthanasia was indicated 1.5 years after onset of conspicuous behavior. At necropsy, slight flattening of the gyri and discoloring of the brain was...
Bullimore SR, Corfield AP, Hicks SJ, Goodall C, Carrington SD.In horses, ulceration of the non-glandular region of the stomach is common and has been attributed to the lack of a protective mucus covering. This study aimed to determine whether the non-glandular region is covered by a mucus layer. A mixture of antibodies raised against human gastric mucin (MUC 5 AC) showed a tissue distribution in the glandular region of the equine stomach similar to that seen in humans. Dot blots of mucus from the glandular and non-glandular regions showed cross-reactivity with these antibodies. Various histological fixation and processing techniques were compared for the...
Gable TL, Woods GL.The objectives were to compare cumulus type with nucleus form in equine cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs), to define the percentage of germinal vesicle (GV)-stage oocytes within a population of mares, and to further define GV nucleus shapes of equine oocytes. Cumulus types were as follows: 1) compact (56/208, 26.9%), 2) slightly expanded (37/208, 17.8%), 3) moderately expanded (27/208, 13.0%), 4) greatly expanded (15/208, 7.2%), or 5) denuded (73/208, 35.1%). One hundred thirty of 208 COCs (62.5%) were GV-stage, 21/208 (10.1%) were condensed chromatin-stage, 8/208 (3.8%) were polar body-stage, 4...
Gable TL, Woods GL.The objective was to test the hypothesis that increasing equine oocyte culture time from 48 to 96 or 144 h increases nucleus maturation of equine oocytes. The hypothesis was not supported because condensed chromatin-stage oocytes decreased (P<0.01) from 33/126 (26.2%) at 48 h or 34/95 (35.8%) at 96 h to 11/117 (9.4%) at 144 h, and polar body-stage oocytes decreased (P<0.01) from 65/126 (51.6%) at 48 h to 25/95 (26.3%) at 96 h and (P<0.01) to 1/117 (0.9%) at 144 h. Negative (non-staining) oocytes increased (P<0.01) from 16/126 (12.7%) at 48 h or 15/95 (15.8%) at 96 h to 39/117 (33.3%) at 144 h....
Rieder S, Taourit S, Mariat D, Langlois B, Guérin G.Coat color genetics, when successfully adapted and applied to different mammalian species, provides a good demonstration of the powerful concept of comparative genetics. Using cross-species techniques, we have cloned, sequenced, and characterized equine melanocortin-1-receptor (MC1R) and agouti-signaling-protein (ASIP), and completed a partial sequence of tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1). The coding sequences and parts of the flanking regions of those genes were systematically analyzed in 40 horses and mutations typed in a total of 120 horses. Our panel represented 22 different horse breed...
Martens A, De Moor A, Ducatelle R.The purpose of this study was to examine if bovine papilloma virus (BPV) DNA can be detected in superficial swabs or scrapings from equine sarcoids. Samples were obtained from 92 sarcoids and 20 non-sarcoidal control lesions. The polymerase chain reaction technique was used with a first primer set to check whether DNA extraction was successful, and with a second primer set specific for BPV-DNA. DNA isolation was successful in 88% of the swabs and 93% of the scrapings. All control lesions were negative for BPV-DNA.
Larsen LE, Storgaard T, Holm E.The study describes for the first time the phylogenetic relationship between equine arteritis virus (EAV) isolated from asymptomatic virus-shedding stallions and fatal cases of equine viral arteritis (EVA) in an European country. EAV was isolated from three dead foals and an aborted foetus during three different outbreaks of EVA. From these fatalities, the complete open reading frame 5, encoding the EAV G(L) protein, was amplified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and subjected to nucleotide sequence analysis. Furthermore, DNA sequences were obtained from virus isolated from s...
Davies Morel MC, O'Sullivan JA.Ovarian activity was monitored in 2181 oestrous cycles from 1136 thoroughbred brood mares to accurately determine overall ovulation rate, the relative distribution of ovulations between left and right ovary, whether mare age had an effect on these parameters and whether ovulation pattern in one cycle affected the pattern within the next. Ultrasonic scanning was used in preference to rectal palpation and slaughterhouse material due to its greater accuracy. Mare's ages ranged from 3 to 22 years. The results obtained indicated a similar incidence of ovulation occurring on the right (49.5% of all ...
Carr EA, Théon AP, Madewell BR, Griffey SM, Hitchcock ME.To determine the incidence of bovine papillomavirus (BPV) type 1 or 2 in sarcoids and other samples of cutaneous tissues collected from horses in the western United States. Methods: 55 horses with sarcoids and 12 horses without sarcoids. Methods: Tissue samples (tumor and normal skin from horses with sarcoids and normal skin, papillomas, and nonsarcoid cutaneous neoplasms from horses without sarcoids) were collected. Tissue samples were analyzed for BPV-1 or -2 DNA, using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism. The PCR products from 7 sarcoid-affected ho...
Nagarajan MM, Simard C.A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifying a region of the gag gene of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) was developed for the rapid and direct detection of proviral DNA from the peripheral blood of naturally infected horses and was compared with the Coggins test. DNA prepared from white blood cells of 122 field horses from 15 stables with reported cases of EIAV and one seronegative stable were analysed. Amplifications of expected size fragments were obtained by nested PCR for 88 horses using two different sets of primers targeting the gag region. The specificity of the amplified ...
Ricard A, Chanu I.Genetic parameters of eventing horse competitions were estimated. About 13 000 horses, 30 000 annual results during 17 years and 110 000 starts in eventing competitions during 8 years were recorded. The measures of performance were logarithmic transformations of annual earnings, annual earnings per start, and annual earnings per place, and underlying variables responsible for ranks in each competition. Heritabilities were low (0.11 / 0.17 for annual results, 0.07 for ranks). Genetic correlations between criteria were high (greater than 0.90) except between ranks and earnings per place (0.58) o...
McDaniel TK, Dewalt KC, Salama NR, Falkow S.Because of limited genetic tools for use in Helicobacter pylori, tests routinely applied in other bacteria for demonstrating a gene's role in viability and other phenotypes have not been applied to this organism. In a mutational study of putative response regulator genes, we aimed to develop such tools for H. pylori. Methods: We attempted to mutate five response regulator genes by allelic exchange insertional mutagenesis. For genes that yielded no viable mutants, a second copy of the gene was inserted into the chromosome via a suicide vector, and it was seen if providing the second copy would ...
Driancourt MA.In this review, the main features of folliculogenesis are summarized and compared among species. In the past few years, ultrasonography has clarified follicle growth patterns, and our understanding of follicle maturation has improved considerably. As the follicles develop towards the ovulatory stage, three features appear to be highly conserved across all species: 1) the sequence of events (recruitment, selection and dominance); 2) the sequential need for gonadotropins (FSH for recruitment, LH for dominance) and 3) the large variability of numerical parameters (number of waves per cycle, numbe...
Vaughan L, Schofield W, Ennis S.A three year old pony with sexually ambiguous external genitalia was found to have a normal female karyotype (64, XX) and bilateral inguinal testes. The PCR analysis of blood samples revealed the absence of the Y chromosome sequences SRY, eTSPY and ZFY. No Y chromosome sequences were identified in DNA extracted from the gonads. The mechanism whereby XX sex reversal occurs in the absence of SRY is unknown.
Greaves HE, Kalariotes V, Cleaver BD, Porter MB, Sharp DC.The potential involvement of ovarian factors in regulating GnRH and LH postovulation was studied in ovarian intact (Group 1; n=3) and ovariectomized (OVX; Group 2; n=3) mares (OVX within 12 hr of ovulation). Blood samples were collected every 10 min for 6 hr from jugular vein (JV) and intercavernous sinus (ICS) during estrus and on Day 8 postovulation for LH and GnRH analysis. Additionally, JV samples were collected twice daily (12-hr intervals) for 30 days for LH and progesterone (P4) analysis. A significant treatment x day effect (P<0.0001) describes declining plasma LH concentrations in ...
Morton AC, Begg AP, Anderson GA, Takai S, Lämmler C, Browning GF.Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis of restriction endonuclease-digested genomic DNA from a large collection of clinical isolates of Rhodococcus equi, an important pathogen of foals, was used to compare strain distribution between farms and over time. Forty-four strains were found among 209 isolates, with 5 of these accounting for over half the isolates and the 22 strains isolated more than once accounting for 90% of the isolates. The average genotypic diversity on each farm and in each year was found to be less than the genotypic diversity of the isolates taken as a whole, with 5.2% of the total...
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...
Walter I.Uterine tubes from cow, sheep, horse, pig, dog, cat, rabbit, and guinea pig were examined immunohistochemically for presence and distribution of contractile cells in the mucosal lamina propria. We tested for the presence of alpha-smooth muscle actin, tropomyosin, desmin, smooth muscle myosin (heavy chain) and cytoskeletal proteins vimentin and cytokeratin. Immunostaining for alpha-smooth muscle actin showed two distribution patterns: either positive cells were freely dispersed in the mucosal lamina propria or a distinct subepithelial layer of positive cells was seen. The first distribution pat...
Levine MA.Before the development of firearms, the horse was crucial to warfare and, before the invention of the steam engine, it was the fastest and most reliable form of land transport. It is crucial to the life of nomadic pastoralists on the Eurasian steppe and played a major role in the evolution of human society during the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Understanding the human past requires knowledge of the origins and development of horse husbandry. The problem of being able to identify the early stages of horse domestication is one that many researchers have grappled with for the most part unsuccessfull...
Leroux C, Craigo JK, Issel CJ, Montelaro RC.A primary mechanism of lentivirus persistence is the ability of these viruses to evolve in response to biological and immunological selective pressures with a remarkable array of genetic and antigenic variations that constitute a perpetual natural experiment in genetic engineering. A widely accepted paradigm of lentivirus evolution is that the rate of genetic variation is correlated directly with the levels of virus replication: the greater the viral replication, the more opportunities that exist for genetic modifications and selection of viral variants. To test this hypothesis directly, we ex...
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 ...
Cook RF, Cook SJ, Even DL, Schaffer C, Issel CJ.Horse IL-7 (HIL-7) cDNA was isolated from adult lymph node tissue by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using oligonucleotide primers based on horse genomic sequences (The Broad Institute). In addition, to the full-length (FL) 531bp reading frame encoding 176 amino acids, shorter open-reading frames of 477, 396 and 264bp were also amplified. Nucleotide sequence analysis of these RT-PCR products demonstrated they were homologous except the shorter species were missing internal sequences consistent with multiple RNA splicing events. Consequently, the shorter open-reading fr...
Willbold D, Metzger AU, Sticht H, Gallert KC, Voit R, Dank N, Bayer P, Krauss G, Goody RS, Rösch P.Lentiviral transactivator (Tat) proteins are essential for viral replication. Tat proteins of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and bovine immunodeficiency virus form complexes with their respective RNA targets (Tat responsive element, TAR), and specific binding of the equine anemia virus (EIAV) Tat protein to a target TAR RNA is suggested by mutational analysis of the TAR RNA. Structural data on equine infectious anemia virus Tat protein reveal a helix-loop-helix-turn-helix limit structure very similar to homeobox domains that are known to bind specifically to DNA. Here we report results of...
Li B, He X, Zhao Y, Bai D, Shiraigo W, Zhao Q, Manglai D.Studies on the molecular genetics of horse skin pigmentation have typically focused on very few genes and proteins. In this study, we used Illumina sequencing to determine the global gene expression profiles in horses with white-colored coats and those with black-colored coats, with the goal of identifying novel genes that could regulate horse coat color. Results: Genes encoding ribosomal-associated proteins were highly expressed in horse skin. We found a total of 231 unigenes that were differentially expressed between horses with white coats and horses with black coats; 119 were down-regulate...
Bugno M, Słota E.A 5-year-old infertile Hutsul mare was subjected to cytogenetic analysis. Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) using the equine Xp and Xq chromosome painting probes was carried out on chromosome preparations obtained after blood lymphocyte culture. These probes were generated by chromosome microdissection and a large number of spreads was analysed (525). The karyotype formula of the analysed mare was 64,XX/65,XX+Xp with the ratio of the two lines being 99.4 and 0.6, respectively. The goal of the study was to apply chromosome microdissection and the FISH technique for cytogenetic diagnosti...
Blackall PJ, Bisgaard M, McKenzie RA.The objective of this work was to perform a comprehensive phenotypic characterisation of 16 isolates of bacteria previously identified as Actinobacillus equuli. Methods: The 16 isolates that had been obtained from Australian animals--15 from horses and one from a rabbit--were compared with reference strains of A equuli, A capsulatus, Pasteurella caballi and Bisgaard Taxa 9 and 11. Results: The characterisation study demonstrated that only nine of the isolates were A equuli. The other isolates were identified as A capsulatus (the isolate from rabbit), P caballi (one isolate), Bisgaard Taxon 11 ...
Shilton CA, Kahler A, Roach JM, Raudsepp T, de Mestre AM.Embryonic and foetal loss remain one of the greatest challenges in equine reproductive health with 5-10% of established day 15 pregnancies and a further 5-10% of day 70 pregnancies failing to produce a viable foal. The underlying reason for these losses is variable but ultimately most cases will be attributed to pathologies of the environment of the developing embryo and later foetus, or a defect intrinsic to the embryo itself that leads to lethality at any stage of gestation right up to birth. Historically, much research has focused on the maternal endometrium, endocrine and immune responses ...
Lindsey AC, Morris LH, Allen WR, Schenk JL, Squires EL, Bruemmer JE.The objectives of this study were 1) to compare pregnancy rates resulting from 2 methods of insemination using low sperm numbers and 2) to compare pregnancy rates resulting from hysteroscopic insemination of 5 x 106 nonsorted and 5 x 106 spermatozoa sorted for X- and Y-chromosome-bearing populations (flow sorted). Semen was collected with an artificial vagina from 2 stallions of known acceptable fertility. Oestrus was synchronised (June to July) in 40 mares, age 3-10 years, by administering 10 ml altrenogest orally for 10 consecutive days, followed by 250 microg cloprostenol i.m. on Day 11. Al...
Aberle K, Wrede J, Distl O.Gene contributions of foreign populations as well as coefficients of inbreeding and relationship were calculated in 1918 South German Coldblood horses registered in Bavaria in 2003. Based on nearly complete 8-generation-pedigrees (index of pedigree completeness: 76%) the mean coefficient of inbreeding was 23%. After considering missing pedigree data, the mean coefficient of inbreeding was 3%. The rates of inbreeding per generation in the current population amount to about 0.43% over the last eight generations and to about 0.15% in the forthcoming generation. In the total current population, th...
Pinto CR, Paccamonti DL, Eilts BE, Short CR, Godke RA.Recent studies suggest that nitric oxide (NO) may have a role in regulating ovarian physiology. To investigate the role of NO during ovulation in mares, inhibitors of the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) were administered to estrous mares. Forty cycling mares (20 horses and 20 pony mares) were allotted to one of the three treatment groups. Once a follicle was at least 27 mm in diameter, but smaller than 35 mm, mares were given one of the following treatments: saline solution 0.9% (n = 20, w/v, i.v., every 12 h), Nomega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME; n = 10, 148 micromol/kg, i....
Barsuren E, Namkhai B, Kong HS.The objective of this study was to assess differences in serum protein expression profiles of Przewalski's (Mongolian wild horse) and thoroughbred horses using proteome analysis. The serum proteins were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and five different gene products were identified. Proteins represented by the five spots were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS)/MS technology. The identities of all proteins were deduced based on their similarity to proteins in the human plasma protein database. Three pr...
Tozaki T, Ohnuma A, Kikuchi M, Ishige T, Kakoi H, Hirota KI, Takahashi Y, Nagata SI.Thoroughbreds are some of the most famous racehorses worldwide and are currently animals of high economic value. To understand genomic variability in Thoroughbreds, we identified genome-wide insertions and deletions (INDELs) and obtained their allele frequencies in this study. INDELs were obtained from whole-genome sequencing data of 101 Thoroughbred racehorses by mapping sequence reads to the horse reference genome. By integrating individual data, 1,453,349 and 113,047 INDELs were identified in the autosomal (1-31) and X chromosomes, respectively, while 18 INDELs were identified on the mitoch...
Aurich C, Daels PF, Ball BA, Aurich JE.The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of ovarian steroids in the opioid regulation of LH and prolactin release in mares. Effects of the opioid antagonist naloxone on LH and prolactin secretion were determined in ovariectomized pony mares. The animals were pretreated with either progesterone (500 micrograms kg-1) or oestradiol benzoate (10 micrograms kg-1) for 8 days and subsequently with a combination of progesterone and oestradiol for an additional 8 days. Naloxone administration (0.5 mg kg-1 i.v.) resulted in a significant release of LH as well as prolactin in mares after ...
Shin EK, Perryman LE, Meek K.To determine whether a recently developed test would correctly identify horses heterozygous for the severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) trait. Methods: Case series. Methods: 17 healthy Arabian horses that had previously produced foals with SCID, 1 healthy Arabian foal whose dam and sire had produced foals with SCID, 4 foals with SCID, and 1 healthy non-Arabian foal. Methods: DNA was extracted from leukocytes or fibroblasts, amplified by means of polymerase chain reaction, and hybridized with probes specific for the normal and mutant alleles of the catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein...
de Faria DA, do Prado Paim T, Dos Santos CA, Paiva SR, Nogueira MB, McManus C.Since domestication, horse breeds have adapted to their environments and differentiated from one another. This paper uses two methods to detect selection signatures in 23 horse breeds, eight of which are Brazilian (610 animals), both cold-blooded and warm-blooded, from temperate and tropical regions. These animals were genotyped using the GGP Equine BeadChip and we analysed the data by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The samples were separated into groups based on their geographical area of origin and PCA results studied. The genomic regions under selection were detected by hapFLK and PCAd...
Sadaba SA, Madariaga GJ, Botto CM, Carino MH, Zappa ME, García PP, Olguín SA, Massone A, Díaz S.Evidence of cerebellar abiotrophy (CA) was found in a six-month-old Arabian filly with signs of incoordination, head tremor, wobbling, loss of balance and falling over, consistent with a cerebellar lesion. Normal hematology profile blood test and cerebrospinal fluid analysis excluded infectious encephalitis, and serological testing for Sarcocystis neurona was negative. The filly was euthanized. Postmortem X-ray radiography of the cervical cephalic region identified not abnormalities, discounting spinal trauma. The histopathological analysis of serial transverse cerebellar sections by electron ...
Melzer F, Raßbach A, Köenig-Mozes A, Elschner MC, Tomaso H, Busch A.Here, we report the draft genome sequence of Taylorella equigenitalis strain 210217RC10635, a Gram-negative bacterium belonging to the genus Taylorella and the order Burkholderiales. Taylorella equigenitalis is the causative agent of contagious equine metritis (CEM). The strain reported here was isolated in 2017 from a German stallion.
Marino E, Threlfall WR, Schwarze RA.The ECF lateral flow assay test is marketed to detect non-pregnancy in mares. The objectives of the present study were to determine the accuracy of the ECF test, the accuracy of the electronic reader accompanying the ECF test, and agreement between two human readers and the electronic reader. Serum samples were collected from anestrus, cycling but not inseminated, and inseminated mares, and were evaluated with the ECF test (EDP Biotech Company, Knoxville, TN, USA) at The Ohio State University and at the EDP Biotech Laboratory. Specificity ranged from 0.07 to 0.16, the negative predictive value...
Kydd JH, Case R, Minke J, Audonnet JC, Wagner B, Antczak DF.Cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs) are associated with protective immunity against disease caused by equid herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1). However, the EHV-1 target proteins for CTLs are poorly defined. This limits the development of vaccine candidates designed to stimulate strong CTL immunity. Here, classical CTL assays using lymphocytes from horses of three defined MHC class I types that experienced natural infection with EHV-1 and a modified vaccinia virus construct containing an EHV-1 gene encoding the immediate-early (IE) protein are reported. Horses homozygous for the equine leukocyte antigen (E...
Hedrick PW, Miller PS.In recent years, more detailed genetic information has become available for individuals of endangered species in captive breeding programs. There have been suggestions that this information be used to identify rare alleles, particularly those at the MHC, that can be subsequently selected for captive breeding programs. First, we summarize the current information on the MHC relevant to conservation genetics, so that such a possible breeding program is seen in a proper perspective. For example, very few specific alleles at the MHC have been identified as selectively advantageous, even though ther...
Bartolomé E, Perdomo-González DI, Ripollés-Lobo M, Valera M.Horses have been valued for their diversity of coat color since prehistoric times. In particular, the pleiotropic effect that coat color genes have on behavior determines the way the horse perceives and reacts to its environment. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of coat color on basal reactivity assessed with infrared thermography as eye temperature at rest (ETR), determine their relation with the results obtained by these horses in Show Jumping competitions and to estimate the genetic parameters for this variable to test its suitability for genetic selection. A Gene...
Mari G, Rizzato G, Merlo B, Iacono E, Bucci D, Seren E, Tamanini C, Galeati G, Spinaci M.Little information is available on the quality of stallion spermatozoa after sex sorting. The objectives of the present study were to assess the quality of sex-sorted stallion spermatozoa and determine its fertilizing ability after hysteroscopic low dose insemination. Ejaculates from four stallions were collected and sorted by a MoFlo SX flow cytometer/sperm sorter. Before and after sorting, spermatozoa were evaluated for motility by Computer Assisted Sperm Analysis, viability (SYBR 14-propidium iodide), mitochondrial function (JC-1) and acrosomal status (fluorescein isothiocyanate Pisum sativ...
Gómez MD, Goyache F, Molina A, Valera M.The mating policy for Spanish Purebred horses encourages the same or closely related stallions to be used for reproduction across studs differing in environments. Stallions may perform differently across studs, and if so, adjustment for the sire x stud (ss) interaction is recommended. However, there are no studies available that analyzed the influence of ss interaction on estimation of genetic parameters in horses. This research is aimed at assessing the implications of including ss interaction in models fitted for the estimation of genetic parameters for traits under selection using 8 body me...
Gáspárdy A, Rieden S, Simonyi Z, Szemere B, Bodó I.The authors give a short orientation about the age related parameters of the incisors based on the literature. They examined the question of breed differences with respect to the age determination of horses in the different counties, especially in regard to the English Thoroughbred. In this context they present a new parameter as well as a new approach in data-processing. The cup depth and the yearly abrasion showed high breed-specificity. The relative abrasion indicated that the most intensive wear out is typical for the Thoroughbred. The cup depth and the yearly wear out were different accor...
Hussein H, Boyaka P, Dulin J, Bertone A.Cathepsin K (CatK) is an important enzyme regulating bone degradation and has been shown to contribute to the immune response. We have studied two inflammatory models in equine bone marrow nucleated cells (BMNCs); the LPS and the unmethylated CpG stimulation with the following objectives to: 1.determine whether CatK inhibition will alter the cytokine secretion by stimulated BMNCs; specifically IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, and 2.determine the changes in BMNCs surface markers' expression and MHC II molecule under CatK inhibition. Cathepsin K inhibition promoted BMNCs viability and reduced cell apop...
Gläser KE, Sun Q, Wells MT, Nixon AJ.No large scale equine microarray is available commercially to allow genomic and transcriptional profiling of the majority of genes that would define the genetic basis of equine disease. Objective: To generate a whole transcript target labelled GeneChip to interrogate the equine transcriptome and validate chip performance using RNA samples derived from organs, articular cells and normal cartilage. Methods: Equine mRNA and selected equine gene sequences derived from perfect cross-hybridisation of equine RNA on human microarray GeneChips, were used to design a custom equine gene microarray. Seque...
Bailey E.The linkage group formed by the ELA and A blood group system in horses was studied in American Standardbred horses. The distance between the ELA locus and the A blood group locus was measured as 1.61 centimorgans, observing only the haplotypes contributed by the sires. Strong linkage disequilibrium was found in pacing Standardbred horses for ELA-W1 with Aa, ELA-W5 with Ab and ELA-W10 with Ab. Linkage disequilibrium was apparent at both the population and family level. Among trotting Standardbred horses, linkage disequilibrium was found for ELA-W1 with Aa and for ELA-W10 with Ab. It was not pos...
Badial PR, Oliveira-Filho JP, Pantoja JC, Moreira JC, Conceição LG, Borges AS.Hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA) is an autosomal recessive disorder affecting quarter horses (QHs); affected horses exhibit characteristic skin abnormalities related to abnormal collagen biosynthesis. Objective: To characterize the thickness and morphological abnormalities of the skin of HERDA-affected horses and to determine the interobserver agreement and the diagnostic accuracy of histopathological examination of skin biopsies from horses with HERDA. Methods: Six affected QHs, confirmed by DNA testing, from a research herd and five unaffected QHs from a stud farm. Methods:...
Muniz E, Lobo Ladd AA, Lobo Ladd FV, da Silva AA, Kmit FV, Borges AS, Teixeira R, da Mota LS, Belli CB, de Zoppa AL, da Silva LC, de Melo MP, Coppi AA.Ileocolonic aganglionosis (ICA) is the congenital and hereditary absence of neurons that constitute the enteric nervous system and has been described in various species including humans - Hirschsprung's disease - and horses - overo lethal white syndrome (OLWS). Hirschsprung's disease affects circa 1 in 5,000 live births. At best, this disease means an inability to absorb nutrients from food (humans). At worse, in horses, it always means death. Despite our general understanding of the functional mechanisms underlying ICA, there is a paucity of reliable quantitative information about the structu...
AbouLaila M, Allam T, Roshdey T, Elkhatam A.Strongylus vulgaris has high pathogenicity to equines. It causes aneurysm and thrombosis in the arteries particularly an anterior mesenteric artery, that is fatal to equines. In this study, we aimed to diagnose microscopically the natural infection of donkeys with Strongylus vulgaris from Sadat City, Minoufiya Governorate, Egypt. Fecal egg culture was used after the diagnosis of strongyle eggs to identify the species. Hematological and biochemical parameters were assessed. Adult worms were collected after post mortem examination of the infected animal. The sequence of ITS-2 was used to confirm...
Saibene F, Cortili G, Gavazzi P, Sala A, Faina M, Sardella F.Blood lactate concentrations were determined in 16 horses (three Thoroughbreds, seven Standardbreds and six polo ponies) before and 5 mins after they galloped over distances of 200, 300 and 400 m at maximal speed. The highest net lactate concentration (delta Lamax) of 14 to 15 mmol/litre was attained by the polo ponies and the highest speed by the Thoroughbreds. The maximal rate of lactate production (delta Låmax) was about 35 mmol/litre X min for the polo ponies and 20 to 25 mmol/litre X min for the Standardbreds and the Thoroughbreds. Values for delta Lamax and delta Låmax were similar to ...
