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.
Messier PE, Drouin R, Richer CL.We present an immunochemical technique for the detection of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporated discontinuously into the chromosomal DNA. A monoclonal anti-BrdU antibody and a protein A-gold complex were used to produce chromosome banding of human and equine chromosomes, specific for electron microscopy (EM). Well-defined bands, symmetry of sister chromatids, concordance between homologues, and band patterns similar to those observed by light microscopy facilitate chromosome identification and karyotyping. From prophase to late metaphase, chromosomes condense and bands appear to fuse. ...
Grundy FJ, Baumann RP, O'Callaghan DJ.The immediate early (IE) proteins of herpesviruses are important regulatory factors which control the expression of genes at the transcriptional level. We report the DNA sequence of the immediate early gene of the alphaherpesvirus equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1). This sequence is shown to be extremely rich in guanine and cytosine, resulting in a highly biased codon usage. The IE gene region possesses 38 open reading frames (ORFs) greater than 300 bp in length, 11 of which have coding regions of at least 100 amino acids (aa) following potential translation initiator codons. The largest ORF co...
Hamada T, Watanabe G, Kokuho T, Taya K, Sasamoto S, Hasegawa Y, Miyamoto K, Igarashi M.A sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) for the determination of inhibin in peripheral plasma and tissue homogenates of different species has been developed using antisera to partially purified bovine follicular fluid (bFF) inhibin and 125I-labelled bFF 32 kDa inhibin. Antisera were produced by immunization of rabbits with partially purified bFF inhibin prepared by immunoaffinity chromatography. Increasing doses of a high titre antiserum could neutralize the suppressing effect of bFF, porcine follicular fluid and rat ovarian homogenate on FSH secretion from rat anterior pituitary cells in culture. ...
Gray WL, Yalamanchili R, Raengsakulrach B, Baumann RP, Staczek J, O'Callaghan DJ.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) preparations enriched in defective interfering particles (DIPs) have previously been demonstrated to mediate the coestablishment of persistent infection and oncogenic transformation in primary hamster embryo fibroblasts. In this study, it was demonstrated that infection of a rabbit kidney (RK) cell line with EHV-1 DIP-enriched preparations also results in the establishment of persistent infection. Viral transcription was characterized in RK cells infected with DIP-enriched stocks and compared to viral transcription in RK cells infected with standard (STD) EHV-...
Taylor MA, Hunt KR.The term 'anthelmintic drug resistance' describes the heritable ability of some nematode parasites to survive treatment with anthelmintic drugs at the recommended therapeutic dose levels. Genes for resistance appear to be present in many of the important pathogenic nematodes of ruminants and horses. Under intensive management systems, where heavy reliance is placed on anthelmintic drugs for worm control, the selection of resistant genotypes may result in increased reports of the drugs failing to control the nematode populations against which they are aimed. Anthelmintic resistance has been rep...
Higashi T, Harasawa R.The three equine adenovirus strains isolated in different locations showed a similar cleavage pattern with HindIII and the DNA homology among the strains was confirmed by Southern blot hybridization. The three strains revealed differences in cleavage patterns with BamHI, EcoRI and PstI, suggesting the presence of DNA polymorphisms among equine adenoviruses.
Townson DH, Pierson RA, Ginther OJ.Plasma progesterone concentrations in mares were determined in two experiments during the time that the luteal glands were detectable by transrectal ultrasonography. In both experiments, corpora lutea were classified into two types of morphologies based on their ultrasonic appearance: centrally nonechogenic luteal glands (fluid-filled) and uniformly echogenic luteal glands (non-fluid-filled). In Experiment 1, daily blood samples were taken from horse mares during August through October and May through July. There were no significant effects of season or luteal morphology on progesterone concen...
Monos DS, Wolf B, Radka SF, Rifat S, Donawick WJ, Soma LR, Zmijewski CM, Kamoun M.Six mouse and 13 rat monoclonal antibodies (mAb) recognizing HLA-DR, DQ and DP antigens were used for the detection of cell surface class II MHC antigens of equine lymphocytes. The monoclonal antibodies were tested against peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from a panel of thoroughbred horses, using two-color fluorescence flow cytometry. Seven of these mAbs reacted with both surface immunoglobulin positive (sIg+) and surface immunoglobulin negative (sIg-) lymphocytes. sIg+ cells stained consistently brighter than sIg- cells. The fluorescence pattern did not vary from donor to donor for each of...
McManus DP, Rishi AK.A segment of the ribosomal RNA gene of Schistosoma mansoni and a DNA fragment specific to Echinococcus granulosus, cloned in plasmids, have been used as DNA probes to assess the extent of genetic variability within E. granulosus and some distinct strains have been identified. The DNA analysis, involving restriction endonuclease digestion and Southern blot hybridization with the probes, did not demonstrate any significant genetic variation within the U.K. horse/dog or sheep/dog strains but confirmed the distinctiveness of the two strains shown in previous studies. The sheep/dog strain was shown...
Sletten K, Husebekk A, Husby G.The complete amino acid sequence of equine serum amyloid A (SAA) was elucidated. The protein consists of 110 amino acid residues and contains an 8-amino acid residue insertion tentatively located between positions 69 and 70, as compared with human SAA. Microheterogeneities were detected at positions 16, 44, and 59, compatible with the existence of more than one SAA gene in the horse. This corresponds to the situation in man and mouse. Pronounced homology with SAA from man and several animal species was observed, thus confirming the conserved structure of this acute phase reactant and apoprotei...
Armstrong RA, Lawrence RA, Jones RL, Wilson NH, Collier A.1. This study describes attempts to compare prostacyclin (IP-) receptors in human, pig, horse, rabbit and rat platelets and in circular muscle of human, rabbit and dog mesenteric and pig gastroepiploic arteries. Three stable prostacyclin analogues, iloprost, cicaprost and 6a-carba-prostacyclin (6a-carba-PGI2) and a prostaglandin endoperoxide analogue EP 157 (previously shown to mimic prostacyclin on human platelets) were used. 2. Our main conclusion is that prostacyclin receptors on human, pig and horse platelets are similar in nature, but distinct from those on rabbit and rat platelets. Funct...
Saikku A, Koskinen E, Sandholm M.IgG levels and tryptic inhibition were investigated in sequentially collected mare's colostrum and milk, foal serum and urine. The colostral trypsin-inhibitor was "transfused" to the newborn foal by the colostral intestinal route in parallel with IgG. However, the trypsin-inhibitor as a small molecular weight inhibitor became excreted into urine peaking at about 20 hours. The physiological proteinuria in foals during the first 2 days is mostly due to immunoglobulin fragments and colostral-derived trypsin-inhibitor. Analysis of urine for IgG light chains or trypsin inhibitor will therefore reve...
Kano I, Nagai F, Satoh K, Ushiyama K, Nakao T, Kano K.Genomic DNA for Na,K-ATPase alpha 1 subunit was obtained from libraries of horse kidney genomic DNA in Charon 4A and in EMBL3 bacteriophages by screening with the full sized cDNA probe of the alpha 1 subunit of rat Na,K-ATPase as probe. The gene spans 30 kb and consists of 23 exons and 22 intervening sequences. Intron-exon boundaries were analyzed. The protein-coding nucleotide sequence encodes 1016 amino acids with an Mr of 112,264. The putative amino acid sequence of horse alpha 1 is 96-97% homologous to those of other mammalian species.
Van Camp SD, Mahler J, Roberts MC, Tate LP, Whitacre MD.An ovarian adenocarcinoma with teratomatous elements was removed from a 9-year-old mare. Although no other lesions were detected at ovariectomy, multifocal metastatic masses led to cachexia and euthanasia 2 months later. This case reaffirms the need to exercise caution when removing ovarian masses to prevent seeding of the abdomen. This report includes discussion of the WHO system of classification of ovarian tumors.
Li JK, Moloney BK, Shupe JL, Gardner EJ, Leone NC, Elsner Y.Genomic DNA polymorphisms obtained by restriction fragment-length polymorphism from healthy horses and horses with hereditary multiple exostoses were analyzed. These DNA were digested by 12 restriction enzymes and were hybridized against 6 isotopically labeled oncogene probes. Hybridization was not detected with the viral oncogene, v-ras, which indicated this oncogene was absent in the equine genome. Oncogenes (c-raf-1, c-fes, c-myb, c-myc, and c-sis) were present and had similar hybridization patterns and signal intensities in DNA from healthy horses and horses with hereditary multiple exosto...
Zong E, Fan G.Generally speaking, the majority of F1 hybrids between the horse and donkey are sterile and do conform to the hypothesis of gametogenic breakdown. The results of our own research, nevertheless, lead us to conclude that there is variability in degree of sterility and fertility for both F1 and B1 individuals, with a gradual advance from sterility to fertility being seen. This is the subject we will discuss from the point of view of oestrus, ovulation, mating, pregnancy, spermatogenesis, endocrine activity, isozymes and karyotypic analysis in this paper.
Saudek V, Boyd J, Williams RJ, Stefani M, Ramponi G.A complete range of two-dimensional NMR experiments was used for the assignment of the 1H-NMR spectrum of horse muscle acylphosphatase. Firstly the spin systems of some easily identifiable amino acid side chains were assigned. These side chains involved all the aromatic residues and all the leucine, valine, isoleucine, threonine, alanine, proline as well as some of the glycine residues. Analysis of nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectra in our previous work had identified the sequential and long-range patterns characteristics for secondary structure elements. This result had also provided the ...
Saudek V, Wormald MR, Williams RJ, Boyd J, Stefani M, Ramponi G.Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of acylphosphatase were searched for signs of beta-structure, i.e. characteristic nuclear Overhauser enhancement patterns displayed in the two-dimensional spectra, typical chemical shifts, coupling constants and slow 2H-H exchange. The results provided identification of the main-chain resonances of amino acid residues involved in the beta-structure. The full sequential assignment of this region was gained by identification of some amino acid spin systems and their alignment with the primary sequence. The assignment of the side-chains was virtually completed s...
al-Timimi I, Gaillard JL, Amri H, Silberzahn P.Whereas mare corpus luteum does not produce androgens or estrogens in vivo, the incubation of mare corpus luteum microsomes with progesterone and NADPH resulted in 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone and estrogen production with a small yield of androstenedione. In the presence of an aromatase inhibitor (4-hydroxyandrostenedione), 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone and androstenedione were accumulated. Aromatization of testosterone and androstenedione occurred via stereospecific loss of the 1 beta, 2 beta hydrogen atoms and was inhibited by MgCl2, KCl, and EDTA. The Km of estrogen synthetase from equine co...
Johnson L, Tatum ME.The temporal appearance of seasonal changes in numbers of Leydig, Sertoli, and germ cells was evaluated to determine if seasonally increased daily spermatozoan production might be preceded by changes in numbers of either of two somatic testicular cells. A significant increase in numbers of spermatogonia and Sertoli cells preceded the significant increase in number of Leydig cells in the approaching breeding season. Seasonal changes in parenchymal weight and in numbers of Sertoli cells, Leydig cells, and germ cells were maximal in May and June. Numbers of A or B spermatogonia in June were 2.4 t...
Parks AH, Scott EA, Cox JE, Stick JA.Six horses with monorchidism, identified at surgery for cryptorchidectomy, are reported. All six presented with a single scrotal testis. Following surgical removal of one testis, they were either hormonally, anatomically or behaviourally determined to be geldings. Three other horses reported in the literature are reviewed. Of these nine cases of monorchidism, eight were thought to be caused by testicular degeneration and one by testicular agenesis. The vaginal process was present in all of the former and absent in the latter. The left side was involved in five of these eight horses. In seven, ...
The Journal of heredityMay 1, 1989
Volume 80, Issue 3 173-178 doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a110831
Woolf CM.The hypothesis was tested that white facial markings in the Arabian horse show multifactorial inheritance. The hypothesis assumes that (1) alleles at different loci acting in a cumulative manner influence the variation in white facial markings, (2) the amount of whiteness is correlated with the number of genes, and (3) interacting nongenetic factors influence the variation. The study was based on computerized data obtained from the Arabian Horse Registry of America, Inc. The facial region was divided into five areas, and each horse was given a score according to the number of areas with a whit...
Kinney RM, Johnson BJ, Welch JB, Tsuchiya KR, Trent DW.Nucleotide sequence analysis of cDNA clones covering the entire genomes of Trinidad donkey (TRD) Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus and its vaccine derivative, TC-83, has revealed 11 differences between the genomes of TC-83 virus and its parent. One nucleotide substitution and a single nucleotide deletion occurred in the 5'- and 3'-noncoding regions of the TC-83 genome, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences of the nonstructural polypeptides of the two viruses differed only in a conservative Ser(TRD) to Thr(TC-83) substitution in nonstructural protein (nsP) three at amino acid ...
Drummond WH, Sanchez IR, Kosch PC, Webb AI.Adult ponies develop pulmonary hypertension at altitude (Bisgard, Orr and Will 1975), but the neonatal response to acute hypoxaemia is unknown. Seven foals aged five days were instrumented with a systemic and a Swan-Ganz pulmonary artery catheter while anesthetised and intubated. Cardiac index, pulmonary (PAP) and systemic (SAP) vascular pressures were measured as the foals breathed gas mixtures with FI02 of 8 to 94 per cent. Because foramen ovale or ductus arteriosus shunts might have altered thermodilution cardiac index measurements in the stressed foals, the ratio, PAP/SAP was calculated to...
Dacquet C, Loirand G, Rakotoarisoa L, Mironneau C, Mironneau J.1. Specific binding of the calcium-antagonist dihydropyridine derivative, (+)-[3H]-PN 200-110 (isradipine), to cell membranes of equine portal vein smooth muscle was compared with binding to intact strips isolated from rat portal veins. 2. Specific binding to vascular smooth muscle membranes was of high affinity, saturable and reversible. The dissociation constant obtained from association and dissociation kinetics of (+)-[3H]-PN 200-110 was similar to that obtained from equilibrium binding and competition experiments. 3. Specific binding of (+)-[3H]-PN 200-110 was completely displaced by unla...
Hüthwohl H, Weiss R, Schmeer N, Schliesser T.Classification based on biochemical characteristics of 389 strains of plasma-coagulase-negative (plc-) staphylococci isolated from the genital tract of mares and stallions resulted in the following distribution of species: St. sciuri 130 (33.4%), St. equorum 42 (10.8%), St. xylosus 16 (4.1%), St. epidermidis 35 (9.0%), St. simulans 24 (6.2%), St. haemolyticus 33 (8.5%), St. warneri 18 (4.6%), St. lentus 12 (3.1%), St. hyicus 11 (2.8%). Strains of St. cohnii, St. capitis, St. gallinarum, St. saprophyticus and St. hominis have only been found sporadically (a. 1%). 48 (12.3%) strains could not be...
Siegel RC, Cathou RE.Complexes of IgM equine anti-dansyl antibodies and different dansyl substituted carriers were tested for their ability to fix complement (C). Only dansyl92-Ficoll and dansyl12-poly-L-lysine were found to be effective. Dansyl13-bovine serum albumin, dansyl127-keyhole limpet hemocyanin, and reduced and alkylated dansyl10-ribonuclease were all ineffective. Lack of C fixation by the dansyl-ribonuclease was not due to lack of antibody-antigen complex formation, since binding at the concentrations employed for C fixation was established. However, in contrast, polymerized dansyl-ribonuclease (polydis...
Labeda DP, Price NP, Kroppenstedt RM, Donahue JM, Williams NM, Sells SF.Two actinomycete strains, NRRL B-24165(T) and NRRL B-24166(T), isolated from lesions on equine placentas in Kentucky, USA, were analysed using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences, morphological observations and the presence of ll-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid in whole-cell hydrolysates, the new isolates clearly belonged to the genus Streptomyces. Analyses of the phylogenetic positions of strains NRRL B-24165(T) and NRRL B-24166(T) based on 16S rRNA gene sequences of all recognized species of the genus Streptomyc...
Freeman DE, Spencer PA.Age, breed, and gender distributions of 168 horses with umbilical hernia treated at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine were analyzed to determine risk factors for this disease. For the 3 breeds that constituted the largest proportion of hospital and case populations, Thoroughbred, Standardbred, and Quarter Horse, the overall ratio of females to males was 1.63. In a hospital population of the same age group, 0 to 48 months, the female to male ratio was 0.93. Compared with males, females were at significantly higher risk for umbilical hernia after adjustment for breed a...
Peyton DH.Specific heme protons for the majority of resonances in the downfield resolved region of equine met-azido myoglobin have been assigned using solely the two-dimensional 1H NMR experiments NOESY and COSY. Metazido myoglobin provides a useful test case for the applicability of these techniques to paramagnetic proteins for the following reasons. First met-azido myoglobin is a mixed spin-state protein, with significantly shorter relaxation times and broadened lines relative to pure low-spin systems (eg., met-cyano myoglobin). Second, met-azido hemoglobin and met-azido myoglobin are important as mod...
Wesley IV, Schroeder-Tucker L.The genus Arcobacter encompasses campylobacter-like organisms that grow in air at 25 degrees C. Arcobacter has been detected or isolated from clinically healthy livestock as well as aborted fetuses and has been presumptively identified as either Campylobacter or Leptospira, based on its growth in selective semisolid media. Because reports from nonlivestock species are limited, this study examined nine presumptive isolates of Arcobacter spp. from an alpaca (Vicugna pacos), black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), gorilla (Troglodytes gorilla), gazelle (Eudorc...
Sudheer Kumar C, Swamy MJ.The major protein of horse seminal plasma, HSP-1/2, exhibits membranolytic and chaperone-like activities and plays a crucial role in regulating sperm capacitation. L-Carnitine is a small polar molecule present in high concentrations in mammalian seminal plasma. The present results demonstrate that L-carnitine binds to HSP-1/2 and increases its thermal stability, enhances cooperativity of its chemical unfolding and decreases both chaperone-like and membranolytic activities of this protein. The HSP-1/2-L-carnitine complex exhibits anti-oxidative behaviour by inhibiting the production of hydroxyl...
Ramsay JD, Evanoff R, Mealey RH.Hepacivirus A (also known as nonprimate hepacivirus and equine hepacivirus) is a hepatotropic virus that can cause both transient and persistent infections in horses. The evolution of intrahost viral populations (quasispecies) has not been studied in detail for hepacivirus A, and its roles in immune evasion and persistence are unknown. To address these knowledge gaps, we first evaluated the envelope gene (E1 and E2) diversity of two different hepacivirus A strains (WSU and CU) in longitudinal blood samples from experimentally infected adult horses, juvenile horses (foals), and foals with sever...
Szalai G, Bailey E, Gerber H, Lazary S.The genetic diversity at the ELA DQ beta locus was investigated using polymerase chain reaction and DNA sequencing. Based upon serological methods 16 class II homozygous animals were selected and their genomic DNA was used. A DQ beta gene from an equine cDNA library was also sequenced. Our methodology and the similarity between the genomic and the cDNA sequences suggest that the studied locus is expressed on equine lymphocytes. In the predicted amino acid sequence the most extensive variation is located at residues 56-60. The pattern of these five amino acids is strongly correlated to the sero...
Ginther OJ.Ultrasonography was used to determine whether there is embryo reduction in mares with unilaterally fixed twins when a major portion of the vascularized area of the wall of one of the embryonic vesicles is in apposition with the wall of the adjacent vesicle, rather than with the endometrium (deprivation hypothesis). In addition, the effect of ovulatory pattern (synchronous and asynchronous) on the incidence of embryo reduction was studied. Twin vesicles were ultrasonically detected on days 11 to 15 (ovulation = day 0) and were examined daily until there was embryo reduction or until day 40. In ...
Martinez de Andino EV, Brom-de-Luna JG, Canesin HS, Rader K, Resende HL, Ripley AM, Love CC, Hinrichs K.To assess meiotic and developmental competence after transfer of immature cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) to the preovulatory follicles of mares (intrafollicular oocyte transfer (IFOT)). Methods: In Experiment 1, mares received an ovulatory stimulus at IFOT. Thirty hours later, COCs were recovered from the follicle, and mature oocytes underwent ICSI and embryo culture. In Experiments 2 and 3, autologous vs. allogeneic COCs were used. The mares were inseminated and embryos were recovered. In Experiment 3, the ovulatory stimulus was administered 9 h (autologous) and 15 h (allogeneic) before IF...
Dunkel B, Rickards KJ, Werling D, Page CP, Cunningham FM.To determine whether expression of equine platelet activation-dependent surface markers is influenced by phospodiesterase (PDE) isoenzyme activity and whether antigen challenge alters platelet PDE activity in horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO). Methods: 16 horses. Methods: 7 healthy horses were used for in vitro experiments, 6 horses with RAO were used for antigen challenge, and 6 healthy horses were used as control animals. Three of the healthy horses had also been used in the in vitro experiments. Effects of PDE inhibition and activation of adenylyl cyclase on CD41/61 and CD62P e...
Hintz HF, Kallfelz FA.The effects of overfeeding, calcium-phosphorus imbalance, misuse of supplements and false advertising on equine nutrition are discussed. Overfeeding is known to cause disorders in several species but, although a similar relationship has been suggested on clinical evidence, no controlled trials on horses have been reported. It has also been suggested that overfeeding is a problem only for those horses with a genetic predisposition to skeletal problems. The importance of adequate calcium and phosphorus levels has been known for many years but severe cases of calcium deficiency still occur. Clien...
Watson ED, Bae SE, Al-Zi'abi MO, Hogg CO, Armstrong DG.The insulin-like growth factors, IGF-I and -II, have been shown to play a key role in luteal function in some species. The IGF binding proteins, IGFBP-2 and -3, have been shown to inhibit binding of IGF-I and -II to bovine luteal cells and decrease progesterone production. We have recently shown that equine follicles have the genetic capacity to produce IGFBP-2, and that levels decrease in healthy preovulatory follicles. In the present study expression of mRNAs encoding IGFBP-2, as well as the rate-limiting steroidogenic enzyme, P450scc, were studied in equine corpora lutea to investigate whet...
Montes-Cortés MG, Fernández-García JL, Martínez-Estéllez MÁH.Equine piroplasmosis is caused by two haemoprotozoan parasites: and . Negative economic impact on international trade has been associated to endemic sites. This is the reason why carrier detection requires reliable diagnostic methods. Various diagnostic modalities can be used alone or in combination including PCR. However, genetic variation of commonly used genes is still of debate. The aim of this research was to sequence the β-tubulin gene of a strain from Spain and to compare it with known β-tubulin sequences. Methods: DNA was isolated from a cryopreserved strain from Spain and acute an...
Cappugi G, Chellini PC, Nassi P, Ramponi G.A ninhydrin-negative peptide fraction obtained from tryptic digest of carboxymethyl acylphosphatase was isolated by chromatography on a column of PA 28 Beckman resin and analysed for the amino acid composition. Degradation with carboxypeptidase B and A indicated that the sequence of this peptide was: X-Thr-Ala-Arg. The amino-terminal residue was identified as N-acetylserine by high voltage electrophoresis. It is therefore suggested that the sequence of the NH2-terminal portion of CM-acylphosphatase is N-acetyl-Ser-Thr-Ala-Arg. Digestion with carboxypeptidase A and B indicated also that the COO...
Jacob JC, Gastal EL, Gastal MO, Carvalho GR, Beg MA, Ginther OJ.The follicle and hormone aspects of diameter deviation and development of one dominant (>/=28 mm) follicle (1DF) vs two dominant follicles (2DF) were studied in 32 ovulatory follicular waves in mares. Follicles were ranked each day as F1 (largest) to F3. The beginning of deviation was designated day 0 and preceded the first increase in the differences in diameter between F1 and F2 in the 1DF group and between a combination of F1 and F2 vs F3 in the 2DF group. One dominant follicle and 2DF developed in 21 (66%) and 11 (34%) waves, respectively. Double ovulations occurred in only one of the w...
Wilson DC, Corbett AD, Steel C, Pannirselvam R, Bovell DL.The causal factors of equine anhidrosis have not yet been elucidated but defective electrolyte transport mechanisms in the gland are likely to be involved. To investigate this possibility, experiments were performed on cultured equine sweat gland epithelia from five free-sweating UK horses (3 intact males, 2 mares, aged 2-4 years) and from three free-sweating Singapore horses (1 intact male, 2 mares, aged 3-5 years) and three anhidrotic (Singapore) horses (1 intact male, 1 gelding, 1 mare, aged 3-6 years). Cultured cells from each animal were grown on permeable supports and loaded into Ussing ...
Feughelman M, Lyman DJ, Willis BK.Recent Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) with attenuated total reflection technique (ATR) has been applied to alpha-keratin fibers (horse-hair) extended in water both at 21 and 95 degrees C. Infrared absorption bands in the Amide 1 region indicated that at extensions to 40-50% strain in water at 21 degrees C alpha-helices had completely disappeared and parallel beta-sheets were formed [Appl. Spectrosc. 55 (2001) 552]. However, when the hair fibers were extended to the same strain at 95 degrees C in water the result was the formation of anti-parallel beta-sheets. These results sugg...
Surma-Kurusiewicz K, Winiarczyk S, Adaszek Ł.The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative analysis of the ORF5 gene fragment nucleotide sequences and the GP5 protein amino acid sequences formed on this matrix, for the equine arteritis virus (EAV) strains isolated from the semen of infected stallions from Eastern Poland. The study covered 41 stallions whose blood serum tested positive for antigens specific to the EAV. The presence of EAV genetic material was shown in material from 5 horses, in one of which permanent presence of viral RNA was detected over the entire 4-year study period (the material was sampled four times at yea...
Adolf GR, Traxler E, Maurer-Fogy I.Equine interferon-beta 1 (EqIFN-beta 1) was purified from extracts of recombinant Escherichia coli by sequential chromatography on hydroxylapatite, anion-, and cation-exchangers. The resulting protein was greater than 98% pure as determined by sodium dodecylsulfate gel electrophoresis, gel permeation HPLC, and reverse-phase HPLC. Amino-terminal amino acid sequencing revealed that essentially all molecules contained an additional amino-terminal methionine. The specific antiviral activity of EqIFN-beta 1 determined on equine dermal fibroblasts challenged with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) was...
Medda R, Cara N, Floris G.Ceruloplasmin is a blue copper-containing serum glycoprotein with oxidase activity. It as been proposed that the physiological function of ceruloplasmin involves the oxidation of ferrous iron and its incorporation into apotransferrin. There are several reports demonstrating that ceruloplasmin is made up of multiple chains. Ryden has questioned the multichain structure of ceruloplasmin from human, pig, horse and rabbit sera, arguing that the dissociation observed by previous workers could be attributed to cleavage of labile bands in the protein by enzymatic contaminants present in commercial pr...
Echigoya Y, Sato T, Itou T, Endo H, Sakai T.To elucidate the molecular properties of the equine glycolytic enzymes equine M(1) (eM(1)) and M(2) (eM(2))-pyruvate kinase (PK), mRNAs were isolated from thoroughbred horse skeletal muscle and hair roots, respectively. The full-length eM(1) and eM(2)-PK cDNAs consist of 2,320 and 2,376 bp, respectively, containing a 1596 bp open reading frame. The cDNAs were mapped to equine chromosome 1, and the equine pyruvate kinase M (PKM) gene consists of twelve exons. Exon 9 of eM(1)-PK and exon 10 of eM(2)-PK were further investigated in five equine species. Out of 55 amino acids encoded by exon 9 in e...
Mehdizadeh Gohari I, Boerlin P, Prescott JF.NetF-producing type A Clostridium perfringens, a pathotype of C. perfringens, causes necrotizing enteritis in neonatal foals and necrotizing and hemorrhagic enteritis in dogs. Recent core genome multilocus sequence typing study revealed that netF+ C. perfringens strains belong to two distinct clonal populations (clonal complexes I and II). There are no reports on susceptibility to antimicrobial drugs of isolates from this pathotype. The susceptibility to 13 different antimicrobial drugs of 49 netF+ strains recovered from foals or dogs with necrotizing enteritis in Canada, the United States, an...
Bull RW.Six equine lymphocyte alloantigen (ELA) specificities were defined by an international antiserum comparison test and workshop held in 1981. Twelve laboratories from four countries submitted 195 antisera for analysis. The antisera were exchanged among the 12 laboratories and tested in a standard lymphocyte microcytoxicity assay against the isolated lymphocytes at 1009 horses of several breeds. The data was pooled and analysed by a single computer analysis. The calculated chi 2 values of all cells with all antisera provided comparisons between antisera. Fifteen antisera clusters were formed by t...
Willham RL, Wilson DE.Research on the racing performance of quarter horses has been used to develop genetic prediction summaries on all horses with at least one start on record at the American Quarter Horse Association. In the 1987 summary, records from a total of 212,065 horses were used to give genetic predictions on stallions, mares, geldings, fillies, and colts. A reduced animal model was used that incorporated the repeated records of individuals. The individual race was the contemporary group after the data were adjusted for distance, sex, and age. Estimates of heritability of .24 and repeatability of .32 sugg...
Mata X, Vaiman A, Ducasse A, Diribarne M, Schibler L, Guérin G.Gene characterization is an important feature for genome annotation and more particularly for candidate genes that could be selected in domestic species. Associations between an alpha-actinin-3 gene polymorphism and muscle performance were reported in humans involving a nonsense mutation (R577X) and in mice after inactivation of the gene. Here, we characterized the equine alpha-actinin-3 (ACTN3) gene by sequencing and transcript analysis. The cDNA was determined to be 3.47 kb in length with an open reading frame of 2709 bp expectedly encoding a protein 902 amino acids long. The ACTN3 gene is 1...
Duan H, Gao JF, Su X, Fu X, Yue DM, Gao Y, Qiu JH, Wang CR.Triodontophorus spp. parasitizes the large intestine of equine, causing strongylid diseases. The present study assessed genetic variation in five gene regions within and between Triodontophorus brevicauda and Triodontophorus nipponicus from Heilongjiang Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region. The five gene markers were three mitochondrial (mt) genes, cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1), NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (nad5), cytochrome b (cytb); and two ribosomal RNA genes, the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) and the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2). Partial (p) sequences o...
Ma J, Zhang Z, Yao Q, Su C, Yin X, Wang X.Rev, an important accessory protein of equine infectious anaemia virus (EIAV), induces the nuclear export of incompletely spliced viral mRNAs. Rev is translated from the tat-rev mRNA through leaky scanning of the tat CUG. In this study, the function of the Kozak sequence at the beginning of the rev ORF was investigated. Deletion or attenuation of the Kozak sequence resulted in expression of an N-terminal 11 aa-truncated Rev in addition to WT Rev. Truncated Rev displayed weaker promotion of Gag expression and processing than WT Rev. Furthermore, EIAV rescued from an infectious molecular clon...
The Kushum breed is one of the top breeds in the structure of horse breeds in the Aktobe region. In terms of numbers, it ranks third after the Kazakh and Mugalzhar breeds. The Kushum breed in the Aktobe region compares favorably with a number of horse-draft factory breeds in terms of early maturity, fertility, high meat, milk productivity, and economy of keeping. This article describes a new intra-breed type, the "Mamyr-Aktobe" type of the Kushum horse breed of the Aktobe population. The structure of the intra-breed type of Mamyr-Aktobe of the Kushum breed includes three factory lines of stall...
Hesford F, Lazary S, Curty-Hänni K, Gerber H.A number of horse alloantisera were characterized biochemically as being directed against MHC class I or class II antigens by immunoprecipitation of the corresponding antigens from lysates of biosynthetically radioactively labelled lymphocytes and determination of their molecular weights by SDS-PAGE and fluorography. Sera recognizing A2 and A3 specificities precipitated antigens of 44,000 Daltons molecular weight (class I heavy chain), whereas sera with specificities W13, W22 and W23 precipitated antigens corresponding to class II dimers (30,000 and 32,000 Daltons). Comparison with antigens pr...
