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.
Schuetz AW, Whittingham DG, Legg RF.Granulosa cells at different stages of differentiation were collected from ovarian follicles and oviducts during the periovulatory period, and their nuclear DNA content was monitored by flow cytometry to establish their cell cycle characteristics (G0 + G1, S, G2 + M). The proportion of cells in the three phases of the cell cycle varied in characteristics patterns depending upon the time they were collected, before or following ovulation. Granulosa (cumulus) cells recovered from ovulated oocytes were mitotically inactive as shown by the large proportion of cells with a 2C amount of DNA and the ...
Kozawa Y, Mishima H, Sakae T.During the evolution of the Equoidea, the histological structures of the teeth have become more complex as the molars have become hypsodont in form. The straight Hunter-Schreger bands of Hiracotherium have evolved into a more complex pattern in Equus. The enamel prisms changed from an arched form (about 5μm in diameter) with an alternating pattern in Hiracotherium to an oval form (about 2 μm width) arranged in straight rows in Equus. In Equus the rows of prisms are separated by interprismatic sheets. This pattern may have increased the architectural strength of the enamel, and is related to ...
Frame SR, Harrington DD, Fessler J, Frame PF.Mechanobullous disease was diagnosed in a male Belgian foal that had sloughed hooves at 30 hours and at 6 and 12 days of age. Histologic and electron microscopic studies disclosed that lesions were the result of separation of the basal epithelial cell layer from the lamina densa of the basement membrane zone along the lamina lucida. Results of immunofluorescence on tissue specimens were negative for immunoglobulin deposition. The breeding history of the foal's dam indicated that the foal was produced from breeding of the mare to its full sibling stallion. This same mare had produced a female f...
Richards KS, Riley EM, Taylor DH, Morris DL.Protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus were subjected to high concentrations of praziquantel (10-1000 micrograms/ml medium or cyst fluid) for a short, 10 min duration in vitro or in situ within cysts. Drug efficacy was then monitored either by in vitro culture in drug-free medium and/or by passage into rodents. The in vitro test of effectiveness suggested that ovine-derived protoscoleces were more sensitive than those of equine origin, and that the in vitro method of treatment was more successful than that performed in situ. However, the subsequent passage of treated protoscoleces, whether i...
Jacob RJ, Steiner MR.Equine herpesvirus 3 (EHV-3)-infected equine cells display a kinetics of infected cell polypeptide (ICP) synthesis at 34 degrees C that is typical of coordinate cascade gene regulation of herpesviruses. In contrast, when infected cell cultures are incubated at the restricted temperature of 39 degrees C, the shift from early (beta) gene expression to late (gamma) gene expression is perturbed, i.e., there is an accumulation of early (beta) gene products and a decrease in, or absence of, late (gamma) gene products. Some of the affected late (gamma) gene products may be glycoproteins since these I...
Watson ED, Stokes CR.The rate of clearance of 125I-labelled polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) from blood was measured in mares as an indicator of macrophage function. In three out of four cycling mares, PVP clearance was slower during oestrus than dioestrus. Similarly, administration of oestrogen to four ovariectomised mares tended to depress PVP clearance compared with clearance from the same mares before they received oestrogen. However, the effect of oestrogen was not statistically significant. Mares susceptible to persistent endometritis had rates of PVP clearance which were similar to those of genitally normal mare...
Benanchi PL, Gazzei G, Giannozzi A.A simple two-step procedure for purifying F(ab)2 fragments of horse immunoglobulins is described. In the first step, the horse plasma is diluted, made up to 12% (w/v) with ammonium sulphate and digested with pepsin. In the second step, the previously dialyzed solution is chromatographed. Instead of a normal ion-exchange resin, a DEAE-cellulose, covalently linked to a synthetic vinyl polymer, was used (DEAE-Zeta-Prep). With this assembly it is possible to perform chromatography at a high flow-rate without the problems related to the use of large columns. The yield and purity of the final produc...
Wood TC, White KL, Thompson DL, Garza F.This experiment was designed (1) to determine if H-Y antigen is expressed on the cell surface of pre-implantation equine blastocyst stage embryos, (2) if so, to identify differences in expression on inner cell mass (ICM) verses trophectoderm cells and (3) to evaluate whether the detection of this glycoprotein would aid in the identification of equine embryonic sex. A total of 33 blastocyst stage horse embryos were collected 6-7 days post-ovulation by trans-cervical flush and were immediately evaluated for the presence of H-Y antigen. Additionally, 17 embryos, collected at similar stages and cu...
Godovac-Zimmermann J, Conti A, Napolitano L.The complete primary structure of donkey lysozyme has been established by pulsed liquid-phase sequencing of tryptic and chymotryptic peptides isolated by RP-HPLC. The positions of the Cys residues were identified by labeling the Cys residues with DABIA-reagent. Donkey lysozyme is a c-type lysozyme which is 129 amino acids long. It exhibits 50% homology to the human protein. We observe the full Ca(II) binding site suggested for the homologous alpha-lactalbumines. Although horse lysozyme has been reported to contain asparagine in position 61, which was in conflict with the three-dimensional stru...
Johnson GC, Kohn CW, Johnson CW, Garry F, Scott D, Martin S.Ultrastructural examination of a mechanobullous disease of probable hereditary nature in Belgian foals, confirmed light microscopic findings that separation of the dermo-epidermal junction occurred through the lamina lucida of the basement membrane, leaving the intact lamina densa adherent to the dermis and the plasmalemma of the basal epithelial cells intact. The location of the cleft and the presence of small hemidesmosomes in adjacent intact skin are additional characteristics which make this condition similar to junctional epidermolysis bullosa of man.
Swanson SP, Helaszek C, Buck WB, Rood HD, Haschek WM.The role of faecal and intestinal microflora on the metabolism of trichothecene mycotoxins was examined in this study. Suspensions of microflora obtained from the faeces of horses, cattle, dogs, rats, swine and chickens were incubated anaerobically with the trichothecene mycotoxin, diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS). Micro-organisms from rats, cattle and swine completely biotransformed DAS, primarily to the deacylated deepoxidation products, deepoxy monoacetoxyscirpenol (DE MAS) and deepoxy scirpentriol (DE SCP). By contrast, faecal microflora from chickens, horses and dogs failed to reduce the epoxide ...
Broström H, Fahlbrink E, Dubath ML, Lazary S.The distribution of equine leucocyte antigens (ELA) in Swedish Halfbreds affected by sarcoid tumors was determined and compared with that of control horses of the same breed. ELA-haplotype A3W13 appeared more frequently in affected horses, resulting in a chi 2 value of 4.45 (P = 0.034) for A3 and 9.05 (P = 0.0026) for W13, respectively. The relative risk factor (RR) could be estimated to 2.13 and 3.00 for A3 and W13, respectively. The etiology fraction (EF) was calculated to 28% and 37% for A3 and W13, respectively. Thus, in the population of Swedish Halfbreds approximately 40% (at least) of t...
Grosenbaugh DA, Amoss MS, Hood DM, Morgan SJ, Williams JD.Epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor binding kinetics and EGF-mediated stimulation of DNA synthesis and cellular proliferation were studied in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) from the equine thoracic aorta. Binding studies, using murine 125I-labeled EGF, indicate the presence of a single class of high-affinity binding sites (apparent KD = 2.8 X 10(-11) M), with an estimated maximal binding capacity of 5,800 sites/cell. EGF stimulated [3H]thymidine uptake in confluent quiescent monolayers in a dose-dependent fashion, half-maximal stimulation occurring at 7.5 X 10(-11) M. Likewise...
Robertson AT, Caughman GB, Gray WL, Baumann RP, Staczek J, O'Callaghan DJ.Equine herpesvirus type 1 (EHV-1) gene expression is coordinately regulated in an alpha, beta, gamma fashion. Viral alpha gene products include a 6.0-kb immediate early (IE) mRNA species (W. L. Gray et al., 1987, Virology 158, 79-87) and at least four closely related IE polypeptides (IEPs) (G.B. Caughman et al., 1985, Virology 145, 49-61). In this report, we describe results obtained from a series of in vitro translation experiments which were performed in an effort to characterize the IEPs and identify the mechanism by which individual IE protein species are generated. Our data indicate that ...
Anderson GS, Belton P, Kleider N.Culicoides hypersensitivity is a chronic, recurrent, seasonal dermatitis of horses that has a worldwide distribution, but has only recently been reported in Canada. It is characterized by intense pruritus resulting in lesions associated with self-induced trauma.A survey of veterinarians and horse-owners in British Columbia showed no differences in susceptibility due to the sex, color, breed, or height of the horses. The prevalence of the disease in the 209 horses surveyed was 26%. Horses sharing the same pasture could be unaffected. The disease was reported primarily from southwestern British ...
Kent MG, Schneller HE, Hegsted RL, Johnston SD, Wachtel SS.The XY Sex Reversal Syndrome of the horse is a condition associated with female or intersexual development in genetic males. In our previous study, 38 sex reversed XY mares were classified according to behavior, gross clinical phenotype, gonadal status, and H-Y phenotype. Four classes were described, ranging from potentially fertile female (Class I) to virilized intersex (Class IV). In the present study, serum testosterone concentrations were measured in 29 sex-reversed XY mares, 3 normal mares and 3 normal stallions. Serums were obtained during the breeding season (March-August), and were sto...
Snijder EJ, Ederveen J, Spaan WJ, Weiss M, Horzinek MC.From 380S particles of Berne virus (proposed family Toroviridae) one species of polyadenylated RNA was isolated. Using agarose gel electrophoresis its length was estimated as 20 kb or greater. When assayed under hypertonic transfection conditions genomic RNA was found to be infectious; RNase treatment destroyed the infectivity. The positive polarity of the molecule was confirmed by filter spot hybridization using cDNA prepared against poly(A)-selected RNA from infected cells. In embryonic mule skin cells infected with Berne virus the presence of five virus-specific, polyadenylated RNA species ...
de Kok PM, Beijer NA, Buck HM, Sluyterman LA, Meijer EM.The geometry of seven NAD+ analogues bound to horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (LADH) modified only in their nicotinamide group, have been studied using AMBER molecular mechanics energy-minimization procedures. Starting geometries were taken from X-ray crystallographic data for NAD+/Me2SO/LADH reported by Eklund and co-workers. In this study the NAD+ analogues were encaged by the constituent amino acids of the enzyme within a range of 0.6 nm from the initial NAD+/Me2SO/Zn2+ complex. The calculational method used is able to rationalize individual substituent effects and to evaluate the essenti...
Adams GP, Bosu WT.This article reviews the reproductive events in the nonpregnant mare with emphasis on recent advances. The discussion is restricted to the salient features of puberty (prenatal and prepubertal events), seasonality (gonadotropins, photoperiod, and other modifying factors), and the estrous cycle (hormones, estrus, diestrus, and the control of cyclicity) in the nonpregnant mare.
Davie A, Beavers R, Hargitaiová K, Denham J.This paper provides a comprehensive discussion on the physiological impacts of hypoxic training, its benefits to endurance performance, and a rationale for utilizing it to improve performance in the equine athlete. All exercise-induced training adaptations are governed by genetics. Exercise prescriptions can be tailored to elicit the desired physiological adaptations. Although the application of hypoxic stimuli on its own is not ideal to promote favorable molecular responses, exercise training under hypoxic conditions provides an optimal environment for maximizing physiological adaptations to ...
Cortez JV, Hardwicke K, Grupen CG, Herrid M, Machaty Z, Vajta G.A 6-year-old mare, a valuable polo horse, died of complications following postcolic surgery. To preserve its genetics, ear skin samples were collected immediately after death and stored in an equine embryo transfer medium at 4°C for 5 days. After trypsin digestion, monolayer fibroblast cultures were established, but signs of massive bacterial infection were found in all of them. As an ultimate attempt for rescue, rigorously and repeatedly washed cells were individually cultured in all wells of four 96-well dishes. New monolayers were established from the few wells without contamination and us...
Steensma MJ, Doekes HP, Pook T, Derks MFL, Bakker N, Ducro BJ.In the past, small population sizes and unequal ancestor contributions have resulted in high inbreeding rates (ΔF) in the Friesian horse. Two decades ago, the studbook implemented a mating quota and started publishing individual kinships and reduced ΔF below 1% per generation. However, since then, the breeding population size has decreased and this raises the question whether current breeding strategies are sufficient to keep ΔF below desired rates. The aim of this study was to (1) reflect on past inbreeding trends and their main determinants, using pedigree analysis and (2) evaluate the ef...
French KM, Musiał AD, Karczewski M, Daugnora L, Shiroukhov R, Ropka-Molik K, Baranowski T, Bertašius M, Skvortsov K, Szymański P....Horse sacrifice and deposition are enigmatic features of funerary rituals identified across prehistoric Europe that persisted in the eastern Baltic. Genetic and isotopic analysis of horses in Balt cemeteries [1st to 13th centuries CE (Common Era)] dismantle prevailing narratives that locally procured stallions were exclusively selected. Strontium isotope analysis provides direct evidence for long-distance (~300 to 1500 kilometers) maritime transport of Fennoscandian horses to the eastern Baltic in the Late Viking Age (11th to 13th centuries CE). Genetic analysis proves that horses of both sexe...
Fegraeus K, Rosengren MK, Naboulsi R, Orlando L, Åbrink M, Jouni A, Velie BD, Raine A, Egner B, Mattsson CM, Lång K, Zhigulev A, Björck HM....The control of transcription is crucial for homeostasis in mammals. A previous selective sweep analysis of horse racing performance revealed a 19.6 kb candidate regulatory region 50 kb downstream of the Endothelin3 (EDN3) gene. Here, the region was narrowed to a 5.5 kb span of 14 SNVs, with elite and sub-elite haplotypes analyzed for association to racing performance, blood pressure and plasma levels of EDN3 in Coldblooded trotters and Standardbreds. Comparative analysis of human HiCap data identified the span as an enhancer cluster active in endothelial cells, interacting with genes relevant ...
Muko R, Ojima Y, Matsuda H, Toishi Y, Oikawa MA, Shin T, Sato H, Tanaka A.Previously, we demonstrated unique insertion/deletion polymorphisms of equine histidine-rich glycoprotein with five genotypes composed of 45-bp or 90-bp deletions in the histidine-rich region of in Thoroughbred horses. Although leukocytes are typically used to collect DNA for genotyping, blood sampling from animals is sometimes difficult and invasive. Moreover, the method for extracting DNA from blood leukocytes involves complicated steps and must be performed soon after blood sampling for sensitive gene analysis. In the present study, we performed genotyping using DNA, isolated from oral m...
Bacon EK, Donnelly CG, Bellone RR, Haase B, Finno CJ, Velie BD.The pleiotropic effects of the melanocortin system show promise in overcoming limitations associated with large variations in opioid analgesic effectiveness observed in equine practice. Of particular interest is variation in the melanocortin-1-receptor (MC1R) gene, which dictates pigment type expression through its epistatic interaction with the agouti signalling protein (ASIP) gene. MC1R has previously been implicated in opioid efficacy in other species; however, this relationship is yet to be explored in horses. In this study, analgesic effectiveness was scored (1-3) based on noted response...
Ustyantsev IG, Kosushkin SA, Borodulina OR, Vassetzky NS, Kramerov DA.Short Interspersed Elements (SINEs) are eukaryotic retrotransposons transcribed by RNA polymerase III (pol III). Many mammalian SINEs (T SINEs) contain a polyadenylation signal (AATAAA), a pol III transcription terminator, and an A-rich tail in their 3'-end. The RNAs of such SINEs have the capacity for AAUAAA-dependent polyadenylation, which is unique to pol III-generated transcripts. The structure, evolution, and polyadenylation of the Ere SINE of ungulates (horses, rhinos, and tapirs) were investigated in this study. A bioinformatics analysis revealed the presence of up to ~4 × 10 Ere copie...
Ing NH, Konganti K, Ghaffar N, Johnson CD, Forrest DW, Love CC, Varner DD.Males of some species, from horses to humans, require medical help for subfertility problems. There is an urgent need for novel molecular assays that reflect spermatozoal function. In the last 25 years, studies examined RNAs in spermatozoa as a window into gene expression during their development and, more recently, for their functions in early embryo development. In clinics, more dense spermatozoa are isolated by density gradient centrifugation before use in artificial insemination to increase pregnancy rates. The objectives of the current study were to discover and quantify the microRNAs i...
Leite RO, Albertino LG, Sperandio LMS, Campos F, Campos R, Borges AS, Oliveira-Filho JP.Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) in athletic horses is characterized by the presence of blood from the lungs in the tracheobronchial tree after intense exercise. Despite the high prevalence of EIPH in horses, the primary aetiology remains unknown. Variants in the genes encoding CD39 and CD39L1 (ENTPD1 and ENTPD2, respectively) were previously reported as potential genetic causes involved in EIPH pathogenesis. However, the role of these variants in haemostatic functions is unknown. Results: To investigate the association between EIPH and missense variants in the ENTPD1 (rs115229627...
Van Cauter R, Caudron I, Lejeune JP, Rousset A, Serteyn D.Osteochondrosis dissecans is a particularly common developmental orthopaedic disorder in equines. Among its causes, the hereditary component is no longer a matter of debate, and, for several decades, the various studbooks for sport horses have been selecting stallions in order to limit the prevalence of this condition in the population. However, to our knowledge, no study has evaluated changes in the prevalence of osteochondrosis dissecans over time through longitudinal monitoring of a population of sport horses. The study presented here is part of a large screening programme for developmental...
Valera M, Karlau A, Anaya G, Bugno-Poniewierska M, Molina A, Encina A, Azor PJ, Demyda-Peyrás S.Sex chromosomal abnormalities are a well-established cause of reproductive failure in domestic horses. Because of its difficult diagnosis, the Pura Raza Español breeding program established a routine screening for chromosomal abnormalities in all the horses prior to enrolling in the studbook. This genomic procedure combines an initial assessment based on the results from Short Tandem Repeat (STR) parentage testing followed by a Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) based copy number aberration (CNA) confirmative analysis in positive cases. Using this methodology, we identified five new individ...
Guyo M, Tareke M, Tonamo A, Bediye D, Defar G.This study was conducted to evaluate morphometric traits of horse ecotypes reared in four districts of the Bale highlands, southeastern Ethiopia. Twenty-seven morphometric traits were measured from 500 horses (294 males and 206 females) of both sexes. Data were analyzed using SAS 2012. This study revealed that certain traits, such as head length, loin length, bi-ischial width, and sternum height of horses were similar. However, significant differences ( < 0.0001, < 0.01, < 0.05) were observed in other traits across the districts. All traits were affected by age ( < 0.05) except rump width an...
Duderstadt S, Distl O.The objectives of the present study were to analyze the influence of the stallions employed in the Dülmen wild horses on the genetic diversity and population substructure using Bayesian cluster analysis. The Dülmen wild horse is maintained as a unique horse population exposed to the natural conditions all year round in the Merfelder Bruch near Dülmen in Westphalia, Germany. Stallions selected for breeding have to prove their abilities to survive under this harsh environment. We used multilocus genotypic information from a set of 29 autosomal microsatellites to determine the paternity of 185...
Kehlbeck A, Blanco M, Venner M, Freise F, Gunreben B, Sieme H.Fragile foal syndrome (FFS) or warmblood FFS Type 1 (WFFS) is a recessive, autosomal, hereditary, genetic defect causing late abortions, stillbirths and non-viable foals. Whether early pregnancy losses occur is unknown. Objective: To investigate how WFFS affects pregnancies and whether early pregnancy losses occur in WFFS matings and if there is a difference in pregnancy success between matings where both parents were allele carriers and those where only mare or stallion were WFFS carriers. Methods: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Breeding records from a Warmblood stud farm were evaluated...
Frontiers in geneticsOctober 29, 2024
Volume 15 1455790 doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1455790
Harari S, Deretz S, Dumont Saint Priest B, Richard E, Ricard A.In order to find early selection criteria to improve the longevity of show jumping horses, a specific protocol was designed. Unassigned: Before entering competition, young horses selected from extreme stallions for longevity were measured for many traits, including blood parameters. Blood samples were taken from 952 horses aged 2-4 years old, sired by two groups of stallions: one with unfavorable (U) and the other with favorable (F) extreme estimated breeding values for functional longevity. These breeding values were previously calculated from data on 202,320 horses that participated in show...
Du M, Li X, Bayinnamula , Wang N, Liu Y, Zhang L, Zhao Y, Dugarjaviin M.An important method for preserving equine germplasm is the cryopreservation of equine oocytes. Due to its ease, rapidity and affordability, vitrification freezing has taken over as the primary method of horse oocyte cryopreservation. The vitrification cryoprotectants utilized in this investigation were Ethylene glycol (E), Dimethyl sulfoxide (D), Sucrose (S), and Ficoll (F). According to the oocyte volume alteration, the treatment time was 39 s in equilibrium solution ED10 (10 % EG + 10 % DMSO), 32 s in equilibrium solution ED15 (15 % EG + 15 % DMSO), while 20 s in equilibrium so...
Padilha DAO, Padilha SF, Martins R, Scheffer BEM, Miliorini MR, Dias LT, Teixeira RA.This study aimed to estimate genetic parameters for race time in seconds and final ranking, as well as to analyze the genetic trends associated with race time. The study utilized a dataset consisting of 23,290 records of race times and final ranks at distances of 1,000, 1,600, and 2,000 m from 6,213 Thoroughbred horses from the São Paulo Jockey Club. Our model considered the year of the run, animal sex, race class, track conditions, the linear effect of horse weight and age, and the quadratic effect of age as fixed covariates. Random effects included direct additive genetic, animal permanent ...
Paulino PG, Amaral FB, de Oliveira RT, de Andrade SG, Rabello CA, Meirelles N, de Souza Santana M, Galdino KCP, Jacob JCF, Peckle M, Massard CL....Equine piroplasmosis, a tick-borne disease caused by hemoparasites of the Babesia and Theileria genera, has significant clinical and economic impacts worldwide. This study aims to characterize the heat shock protein 70 kDa (hsp70) gene sequences of Theileria equi from naturally infected horses across the five geographic regions in Brazil, and to analyze the phylogenetic relationships between T. equi and other parasites within the order Piroplasmida. Primers specific to T. equi were designed through in silico analysis of hsp70 gene sequences available in GenBank. Forty samples of equine whole ...
Radovic L, Remer V, Rigler D, Felkel S, Brem G, Wallner B.The paternally inherited, male-specific part of the Y chromosome (MSY) is an ideal marker for studying the origin, genealogies, and historical connections of horse patrilines. Here, we performed fine-scaled MSY haplotype (HT) analysis in two Baroque horse breeds, the Lipizzaner and the Kladruber, both known for their long-standing tradition of sire line breeding and interconnected genealogies. We genotyped 95 MSY markers using KASP technology in 90 stallions representing all patrilines of both breeds. We identified 14 HTs across eight Lipizzaner sire lines and six HTs in eight Kladruber lines....
Corbally AF, Fahey AG.Sale prices at auction significantly impact the economic return of sport horse production. This study aimed to determine factors associated with auction sales prices of sport horses at four maturity stages: foals, juveniles, young horses, and older horses. A total of 42,799 sales records from 2003 to 2022 were obtained from two Irish equine auction companies. A univariate regression model was used, and significant variables underwent multivariate analysis. Within each maturity category, factors associated with above-mean-priced horses differed from those associated with below-mean-priced horse...
Nazari-Ghadikolaei A, Fikse WF, Viklund ÅG, Mikko S, Eriksson S.Swedish Warmblood horses (SWB) are bred for show jumping and/or dressage with young horse test scores as indicator traits. This study aimed to investigate possible candidate genes and regions of importance for evaluated and linearly scored young horse test traits. A single-step genome-wide association study (ssGWAS) was done using the BLUPF90 suite of programs for factors scores from factor analysis of traits assessed at young horse tests together with height at withers. The ssGWAS included 20,814 SWB with factors scores for four factors for evaluated traits. A total of 6436 of these horses al...
Sobhy NM, Refaai W, Kumar R, Bottros Youssef CR, Goyal SM.Bovine papillomaviruses (BPVs) commonly cause sarcoids in equines worldwide. Equine sarcoids (ESs) reduce the working ability of draft animals and produce untoward cosmetic changes in racing and dancing equine. In this study, nine horses and 16 donkeys with sarcoids were presented to Zagazig University Veterinary Clinic, Zagazig, Egypt. Of these, eight horses and six donkeys were found to be infected with BPV. On sequencing, all 14 viruses were found to be BPV1, which were distributed in two clades without specific differentiation among papillomaviruses (PVs) of donkeys, horses, and cattle. Co...
Palomino Lago E, Ross AKC, McClellan A, Guest DJ.Bone fractures are a significant problem in Thoroughbred racehorses. The risk of fracture is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. To determine the biological processes that are affected in genetically susceptible horses, we utilised polygenic risk scoring to establish induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from horses at high and low genetic risk. RNA-sequencing on iPSC-derived osteoblasts revealed 112 genes that were significantly differentially expressed. Forty-three of these genes have known roles in bone, 27 are not yet annotated in the equine genome and 42 currently have ...
Azcona F, Molina A, Demyda-Peyrás S.Analyzing genetic variability and inbreeding trends is essential for effective breed management in animal populations. To this, the characterization of runs of homozygosity (ROH) provides a good genomic approach to study the phenomena. The Polo Argentino (PA) breed, globally recognized as the best adapted to playing polo, is known for its strong influence of Thoroughbreds, intense selective breeding, and extensive use of reproductive biotechnologies. This study investigates the PA's genomic variability, by characterizing the ROH landscape and identifying ROH islands (ROHi) as potential genomic...
Jarquín-Díaz VH, Dayaram A, Soilemetzidou ES, Desvars-Larrive A, Bohner J, Buuveibaatar B, Kaczensky P, Walzer C, Greenwood AD, Löber U.The microbial composition of host-associated microbiomes is influenced by co-evolutionary interactions, host genetics, domestication, and the environment. This study investigates the contribution of environmental microbiota from freshwater bodies to the gastrointestinal microbiomes of wild khulans (Equus hemionus hemionus, n = 21) and compares them with those of captive khulans (n = 12) and other equids-Przewalski's horse (n = 82) and domestic horse (n = 26). Using PacBio technology and the LotuS pipeline for 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we analyze microbial diversity and conduct ...
Li X, Wang Z, Zhu M, Wang B, Teng S, Yan J, Wang H, Yuan P, Cao S, Qu X, Wang Z, Zhan K, Choudhury MP, Yang X, Bao Q, He S, Liu L, Zhao P, Jiang J....Horse domestication revolutionizes human civilization by transforming transportation, agriculture, and warfare patterns. Despite extensive studies on modern domestic horse origins, the intricate demographic history and genetic signatures underlying pony size remain unexplored. Here, a high-quality genome assembly of the Chinese Debao pony is presented, and 452 qualified individuals from 64 horse breeds worldwide are extensively analyzed. The authors' results reveal the conservation of ancient components in East Asian horses and close relationships between Asian horses and Western pony lineages...
Stefaniuk-Szmukier M, Bieniek A, Ropka-Molik K, Bellone RR.Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) has been connected to the leopard complex spotting phenotype (LP) in various horse breeds. CSNB associated with LP is thought to be caused by a 1378 bp insertion in TRPM1, with homozygotes being nightblind and having few to no spots of pigment in their white patterned area. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of CSNB alleles in tarant-colored horses in Poland through a three-primer system for an allele-specific Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The TRPM1 gene insertion was genotyped in 221 horses belonging to Małopolska, Felin and Shetland Pon...
Kelly RF, Galbraith E, Zahid O, Chaundhry U, Sargison N.Grazing animal species kept in zoological collections can be at risk of significant gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections. Little work has been undertaken to understand GIN species dynamics within co-grazed hosts. This study aimed to describe the species diversity of GINs found in faeces of grazing animals in a Scottish zoological collection. Methods: At a single time-point, freshly voided faecal samples were collected randomly from horses, sheep, goats, alpacas and deer. Faecal worm egg counts (FWECs) were conducted using a saturated saline centrifugal flotation cuvette technique. The ne...
Han J, Shao H, Sun M, Gao F, Hu Q, Yang G, Jafari H, Li N, Dang R.Genetic diversity in livestock and poultry is critical for adapting production systems to future challenges. However, inadequate management practices, particularly in developing countries, have led to the extinction or near extinction of several species. Understanding the genetic composition and historical background of local breeds is essential for their effective conservation and sustainable use. This study compared the genomes of 30 newly sequenced Ningqiang ponies with those of 56 other ponies and 104 horses to investigate genetic diversity, genetic differentiation, and the genetic basis o...
