Genomics in horses involves the study and analysis of the horse genome to understand genetic variations and their implications for equine health, performance, and breeding. This field encompasses the identification and mapping of genes associated with specific traits, diseases, and conditions in horses. Techniques such as whole-genome sequencing and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are employed to explore genetic diversity and inheritance patterns among different horse breeds. Genomics provides insights into hereditary disorders, informs selective breeding practices, and aids in the development of personalized veterinary care. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the applications, methodologies, and findings of genomic research in equine science.
Lin M, Zhang C, Gibson K, Rikihisa Y.Neorickettsia risticii is an obligate intracellular bacterium of the trematodes and mammals. Horses develop Potomac horse fever (PHF) when they ingest aquatic insects containing encysted N. risticii-infected trematodes. The complete genome sequence of N. risticii Illinois consists of a single circular chromosome of 879 977 bp and encodes 38 RNA species and 898 proteins. Although N. risticii has limited ability to synthesize amino acids and lacks many metabolic pathways, it is capable of making major vitamins, cofactors and nucleotides. Comparison with its closely related human pathogen N. senn...
Goodrich LR, Choi VW, Carbone BA, McIlwraith CW, Samulski RJ.Cell transplantation for the treatment of joint disease is an important clinical tool. Genetic modification of cells before transplantation has shown enhanced healing. Ex vivo genetic modification of joint tissue cells with various adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotypes has not been investigated. The transduction efficiencies of self-complementary AAV serotypes (1-6 and 8) were determined in joint tissue containing chondrocytes and synoviocytes isolated from equine models. When comparing scAAV serotypes for efficient transduction ex vivo, in chondrocytes versus synoviocytes, serotypes 6 and 2,...
Morita H, Shimazu M, Shiono H, Toh H, Nakajima F, Akita H, Takagi M, Takami H, Murakami M, Masaoka T, Tanabe S, Hattori M.We previously isolated five strains of putative lactobacilli from the faeces of a thoroughbred horse (a 4-year-old male). Of the five strains, four were identified as members of existing Lactobacillus species; however, sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that the fifth isolate, DI70(T), showed approximately 97 % identity (1325/1366 bp) with the type strain of Lactobacillus delbrueckii. Therefore, we considered the possibility that DI70(T) represents a novel species of the genus Lactobacillus. Cells of strain DI70(T) were Gram-stain-positive, catalase-negative, non-spore-forming, no...
van den Burg MM, Eizema K, de Graaf-Roelfsema E, van Breda E, Wijnberg ID, van der Kolk JH, Everts ME.To investigate the effects of acute exercise and long-term training on Na(+),K(+)-ATPase content, mRNA isoforms, and protein concentration in equine muscle. Methods: 6 Standardbreds. Methods: Horses performed a bout of exercise on a treadmill before and after 18 weeks of combined interval and endurance training. Muscle biopsy specimens were obtained from vastus lateralis muscle (VLM) and pectoralis descendens muscle (PDM) before and after exercise. The Na(+),K(+)-ATPase content, mRNA isoforms, and protein concentrations were determined by use of [(3)H]ouabain binding, real-time PCR assay, and ...
Janova E, Matiasovic J, Vahala J, Vodicka R, Van Dyk E, Horin P.The major histocompatibility complex genes coding for antigen binding and presenting molecules are the most polymorphic genes in the vertebrate genome. We studied the DRA and DQA gene polymorphism of the family Equidae. In addition to 11 previously reported DRA and 24 DQA alleles, six new DRA sequences and 13 new DQA alleles were identified in the genus Equus. Phylogenetic analysis of both DRA and DQA sequences provided evidence for trans-species polymorphism in the family Equidae. The phylogenetic trees differed from species relationships defined by standard taxonomy of Equidae and from trees...
Duffy CW, Morrison LJ, Black A, Pinchbeck GL, Christley RM, Schoenefeld A, Tait A, Turner CM, MacLeod A.African animal trypanosomiasis, or Nagana, is a debilitating and economically costly disease with a major impact on animal health in sub-Saharan Africa. Trypanosoma vivax, one of the principal trypanosome species responsible for the disease, infects a wide host range including cattle, goats, horses and donkeys and is transmitted both cyclically by tsetse flies and mechanically by other biting flies, resulting in a distribution covering large swathes of South America and much of sub-Saharan Africa. While there is evidence for mating in some of the related trypanosome species, Trypanosoma brucei...
Gu J, Orr N, Park SD, Katz LM, Sulimova G, MacHugh DE, Hill EW.Thoroughbred horses have been selected for exceptional racing performance resulting in system-wide structural and functional adaptations contributing to elite athletic phenotypes. Because selection has been recent and intense in a closed population that stems from a small number of founder animals Thoroughbreds represent a unique population within which to identify genomic contributions to exercise-related traits. Employing a population genetics-based hitchhiking mapping approach we performed a genome scan using 394 autosomal and X chromosome microsatellite loci and identified positively selec...
Zhou M, Wang Q, Sun J, Li X, Xu L, Yang H, Shi H, Ning S, Chen L, Li Y, He T, Zheng Y.The importance of microRNAs at the post-transcriptional regulation level has recently been recognized in both animals and plants. We used the simple but effective sequential method of first Blasting known animal miRNAs against the horse genome and then using the located candidates to search for novel miRNAs by RNA folding method in the vicinity (+ -500 bp) of the candidates. Here, a total of 407 novel horse miRNA genes including 354 mature miRNAs were identified, of these, 75 miRNAs were grouped into 32 families based on seed sequence identity. MiRNA genes tend to be present as clusters in som...
Janvilisri T, Scaria J, Thompson AD, Nicholson A, Limbago BM, Arroyo LG, Songer JG, Gröhn YT, Chang YF.Clostridium difficile is a gram-positive, spore-forming enteric anaerobe which can infect humans and a wide variety of animal species. Recently, the incidence and severity of human C. difficile infection has markedly increased. In this study, we evaluated the genomic content of 73 C. difficile strains isolated from humans, horses, cattle, and pigs by comparative genomic hybridization with microarrays containing coding sequences from C. difficile strains 630 and QCD-32g58. The sequenced genome of C. difficile strain 630 was used as a reference to define a candidate core genome of C. difficile a...
Ma J, Jiang C, Lin Y, Wang X, Zhao L, Xiang W, Shao Y, Shen R, Kong X, Zhou J.To study the in vivo evolution of the attenuated Chinese equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) vaccine, viral gp90 gene variation and virus replication in immunosuppressed hosts were investigated. The results showed that after vaccination, the gp90 gene followed an evolutionary trend of declining diversity. The trend coincided with the maturation of immunity to EIAV, and eventually, the gp90 gene became highly homologous. The sequences of these predominant quasispecies were consistently detected up to 18 months after vaccination. Furthermore, after transient immune suppression with dexamethaso...
The Journal of heredityMarch 20, 2009
Volume 100, Issue 4 481-486 doi: 10.1093/jhered/esp006
Wittwer C, Hamann H, Distl O.A whole-genome scan for radiological signs of osteochondrosis (OC) and osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) in South German Coldblood (SGC) horses using 250 microsatellite markers identified a genome-wide significant quantitative trait locus (QTL) for fetlock OCD and a chromosome-wide QTL for hock OC on Equus caballus chromosome (ECA) 18 at a relative position of 45.9-78.2 cM. The aim of this study was to analyze associations of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in candidate genes for OC in this QTL region using 96 SGC horses. The OC-QTL on ECA18 could be confirmed and narrowed down to an inte...
Li LF, Guan WJ, Hua Y, Bai XJ, Ma YH.A fibroblast line was successfully established from Mongolian horse ear marginal tissue by using a primary explant technique and cell cryogenic preservation technology. Biological analysis showed the following: The cells were adherent and exhibited density-dependent inhibition of proliferation; assays of microbial contamination from bacteria, fungi, and mycoplasma were negative; the population doubling time of the cells was 33.9 h; and a 2n chromosome number of 64 at a frequency higher than 80%. A lack of cross-contamination of this cell line with other species was confirmed by isoenzyme analy...
Wang XF, Jiang CG, Guo W, Xiang W, Lv XL, Zhao LP, Wang FL, Kong XG, Zhang XY, Shao YM, Zhou JH.The donkey leukocyte-attenuated vaccine of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) was the first lentiviral vaccine that induced solid protection from the infection of virulent strains. To elucidate the mechanism of increased immunogenicity and attenuated virulence of the vaccine, the proviral genomic DNA of an EIAV vaccine strain, EIAV(DLV121) was analyzed and compared with the genome of a parental virulent strain EIAV(DV117). Full length viral genomic DNAs were amplified as two segments by LA-PCR and were cloned. Because of the genomic diversity of retroviral quasispecies, 10 full-length seque...
Hepperger C, Mayer A, Merz J, Vanderwall DK, Dietzel S.Whether chromosome sets inherited from father and mother occupy separate spaces in the cell nucleus is a question first asked over 110 years ago. Recently, the nuclear organization of the genome has come increasingly into focus as an important level of epigenetic regulation. In this context, it is indispensable to know whether or not parental genomes are spatially separated. Genome separation had been demonstrated for plant hybrids and for the early mammalian embryo. Conclusive studies for somatic mammalian cell nuclei are lacking because homologous chromosomes from the two parents cannot be d...
Perrotti V, Nicholls BM, Piattelli A.The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro formation and activity of human osteoclasts (OCLs) generated on a new type of xenograft for bone substitution, an equine spongy bone. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from healthy volunteers were used to generate OCLs in vitro in the presence of macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) and receptor activator of NF-kappaB ligand (RANKL) on bovine bone slices (positive control) and equine spongy bone. Morphological and biochemical methods were used to assess OCLs formation and activity. Results: Cells generated after 21 day...
Leroy G, Callède L, Verrier E, Mériaux JC, Ricard A, Danchin-Burge C, Rognon X.The genetic diversity and structure of horses raised in France were investigated using 11 microsatellite markers and 1679 animals belonging to 34 breeds. Between-breed differences explained about ten per cent of the total genetic diversity (Fst = 0.099). Values of expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.43 to 0.79 depending on the breed. According to genetic relationships, multivariate and structure analyses, breeds could be classified into four genetic differentiated groups: warm-blooded, draught, Nordic and pony breeds. Using complementary maximisation of diversity and aggregate diversity appr...
Xiang W, Ma J, Wang XF, Zhao YJ, Zhou JH.In this article, we report the analysis of genetic polymorphisms of horse MHC-I molecules by SSCP and HMA, which are methods based on the technique of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). Our results showed that SSCP was not a suitable method for the analysis of genetic polymorphisms of horse MHC-I molecules due to the failure in generating satisfied separation of DNA fragments, even if experimental conditions were optimized. However, the HMA method produced clearly separated DNA fragments of horse MHC-I molecules, after the experimental conditions, such as the running temperature and th...
Morita H, Shiratori C, Murakami M, Takami H, Toh H, Kato Y, Nakajima F, Takagi M, Akita H, Masaoka T, Hattori M.Four bacterial strains, designated ST18(T), HM244, HM250 and DI49, were isolated from the fresh faeces of four thoroughbred horses in Japan. Cells were Gram-positive, strictly anaerobic, catalase-negative, non-spore-forming, non-motile rods that occurred in chains. They were placed in the same subcluster based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, phenotypic characteristics and levels of DNA-DNA relatedness. Their DNA G+C content ranged from 36 to 38 mol%. Lactobacillus catenaformis, Lactobacillus vitulinus and Catenibacterium mitsuokai belong to cluster XVII of the Clostridium subphylum. Strain...
Cochet M, Vaiman D, Lefèvre F.Interferons (IFNs) are cytokines of vertebrates with many biological effects including antiviral, immunoregulatory and antiproliferative activities. Among them, mammalian type I IFNs represents a large family of related proteins, mainly virus-inducible, divided in 10 distinct subfamilies named alpha, beta, omega, delta, epsilon, alphaomega, nu, tau, kappa and zeta (or Limitin). Some type I IFN subfamilies are physiologically expressed by the conceptus during early pregnancy in ungulates. This is the case in ruminants with IFN-tau (which triggers the maintenance of the maternal corpus luteum du...
Fernandez-Fuente M, Ames EG, Wagner ML, Zhou H, Strom M, Zammit PS, Mickelson JR, Muntoni F, Brown SC, Piercy RJ.To develop a reliable method for converting cultured equine skin-derived fibroblasts into muscle cells. Methods: Equine skin-derived fibroblasts. Methods: The equine myogenic differentiation 1 (eqMyoD) genomic sequence was obtained by use of equine bacterial artificial chromosome screening and PCR sequencing. Total mRNA was extracted from foal skeletal muscle, and eqMyoD cDNA was cloned into a plasmid vector with an internal ribosomal entry site to express bicistronic eqMyoD or enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP). Transient expression was confirmed by immunocytochemical analysis and west...
Ramery E, Closset R, Art T, Bureau F, Lekeux P.Microarrays have become an important research tool for life science researchers. Expression microarrays are capable of profiling the gene expression pattern of tens of thousands of genes in a single experiment. It appears to be the platform of choice for parallel gene expression profiling. Various equine-specific gene expression microarrays have been generated and used. However, homologous microarrays are not yet commercially available for the horse. An alternative is the use of heterologous microarrays, mainly microarrays specific for mice or humans. Although the use of microarrays in equine ...
Lecoq L, Vincent P, Lavoie-Lamoureux A, Lavoie JP.Glucocorticoids have potent anti-inflammatory properties and are frequently used for the treatment of domestic animal species, including horses. They induce a down-regulation of multiple inflammatory pathways through both genomic and non-genomic effects. Currently, little is known on the effects of glucocorticoids on equine peripheral blood neutrophils. Objective: Dexamethasone (DEX), a potent synthetic glucocorticoid, inhibits the functions of equine peripheral blood neutrophils through both genomic and non-genomic effects. Methods: Six healthy adult mixed breed female horses. Methods: To ass...
Lau AN, Peng L, Goto H, Chemnick L, Ryder OA, Makova KD.Despite their ability to interbreed and produce fertile offspring, there is continued disagreement about the genetic relationship of the domestic horse (Equus caballus) to its endangered wild relative, Przewalski's horse (Equus przewalskii). Analyses have differed as to whether or not Przewalski's horse is placed phylogenetically as a separate sister group to domestic horses. Because Przewalski's horse and domestic horse are so closely related, genetic data can also be used to infer domestication-specific differences between the two. To investigate the genetic relationship of Przewalski's hors...
Raudsepp T, Gustafson-Seabury A, Durkin K, Wagner ML, Goh G, Seabury CM, Brinkmeyer-Langford C, Lee EJ, Agarwala R, Stallknecht-Rice E, Schäffer AA....A comprehensive second-generation whole genome radiation hybrid (RH II), cytogenetic and comparative map of the horse genome (2n = 64) has been developed using the 5000rad horse x hamster radiation hybrid panel and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). The map contains 4,103 markers (3,816 RH; 1,144 FISH) assigned to all 31 pairs of autosomes and the X chromosome. The RH maps of individual chromosomes are anchored and oriented using 857 cytogenetic markers. The overall resolution of the map is one marker per 775 kilobase pairs (kb), which represents a more than five-fold improvement over ...
Pereyra-Bonnet F, Fernández-Martín R, Olivera R, Jarazo J, Vichera G, Gibbons A, Salamone D.Transgenesis is an essential tool in many biotechnological applications. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)-mediated gene transfer is a powerful technique to obtain transgenic pups; however, most domestic animal embryos do not develop properly after ICSI. An additional step in the protocol, namely assistance by haploid chemical activation, permits the use of ICSI-mediated gene transfer to generate transgenic preimplantation embryos in a wide range of domestic species, including ovine, porcine, feline, equine and bovine. In the present study, spermatozoa from five species were coincubated ...
Fernández D, González-Baradat B, Eleizalde M, González-Marcano E, Perrone T, Mendoza M.Trypanosoma evansi is the causative agent of equine trypanosomosis, disease that affects horse's productivity and health. Parasitological and molecular methods are mostly used to detect the infection. The aim of this work was evaluate PCR sensitivity to detect T. evansi using the primers 21/22-mer, ITS1, ESAG 6/7 and TBR 1/2 designed from repetitive (multicopies) genomic sequences. The results were compare with two parasitological tests in mice, micro-haematocrite centrifugation technique and direct microscopic examination. The results shows (a) that the minimum amount of DNA from blood of hig...
Wang L, Tong G, Liu H, Yang Z, Qiu H, Kong X, Wang M.Proviral DNA was extracted from donkey leukocyte infected with Chinese donkey leukocyte attenuated equine infectious anemia virus (DLA-EIAV), and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from a horse infected with the virulent EIAV strain Liaoning (EIAV L). The entire proviral DNA from both viruses was cloned and sequenced. The lengths of complete genomic sequences of DLA-EIAV and EIAV L provirus were 8266 bp and 8235 bp, respectively. Sequence comparison indicated that DLA-EIAV shares 97.0% and 97.5% in sequence homology with EIAV L and donkey-adapted EIAV (DA-EIAV), respectively. Lots of variation...
Barello C, Garoffo LP, Montorfano G, Zava S, Berra B, Conti A, Giuffrida MG.Although several studies have aimed to identify mare's milk proteins, only the major whey proteins and some caseins have yet been characterized. Incomplete sequencing of the equine genome and the difficulty of recovering highly hydrophobic proteins mean that little is known to date about the proteins associated with milk fat globules, which have been shown to play an important role in newborns' defense mechanisms. The fat fraction, in particular the distribution of unsaturated fatty acids, has been more extensively studied, but complex lipids are only partially elucidated. This study reports a...
Chowdhary BP, Raudsepp T.Despite a late start, analysis of the horse genome has progressed rapidly during the past ten years. With synteny, genetic linkage, radiation hybrid, cytogenetic and comparative maps presently generated for all equine chromosomes including the Y chromosome, the map of the equine genome contains approximately 4,000 markers. The average resolution of the mapped markers is approximately 700 kb, which makes the horse gene map the densest among the domestic animal species hitherto not sequenced. This map is currently used by researchers worldwide to discover genes associated with various traits of ...
Hamilton NA, Tammen I, Raadsma HW.Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is essential for control of blood pressure. The human ACE gene contains an intronic Alu indel (I/D) polymorphism that has been associated with variation in serum enzyme levels, although the functional mechanism has not been identified. The polymorphism has also been associated with cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, renal disease and elite athleticism. We have characterized the ACE gene in horses of breeds selected for differing physical abilities. The equine gene has a similar structure to that of all known mammalian ACE genes. Nine common single nuc...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.
Miglinci L, Reicher P, Nell B, Koch M, Jindra C, Brandt S.Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) seriously compromises the health and welfare of affected horses. Although robust evidence points to equine papillomavirus type 2 (EcPV2) causing genital lesions, the etiopathogenesis of equine SCC is still poorly understood. We screened a series of SCCs from the head-and-neck (HN), (peri-)ocular and genital region, and site-matched controls for the presence of EcPV2-5 and herpesvirus DNA using type-specific EcPV PCR, and consensus nested herpesvirus PCR followed by sequencing. EcPV2 DNA was detected in 45.5% of HN lesions, 8.3% of (peri-)ocular SCCs, and 100% of g...
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...
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...
Ivanetich KM, Hsu PH, Wunderlich KM, Messenger E, Walkup WG, Scott TM, Lukasik J, Davis J.Criteria for sub-typing of microbial organisms by DNA sequencing proposed by Olive and Bean were applied to several genes in Escherichia coli to identify targets for the development of microbial source tracking assays. Based on the aforementioned criteria, the icd (isocitrate dehydrogenase), and putP (proline permease) genes were excluded as potential targets due to their high rates of horizontal gene transfer; the rrs (16S rRNA) gene was excluded as a target due to the presence of multiple gene copies, with different sequences in a single genome. Based on the above criteria, the mdh (malate d...
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...
Liu X, Zhang Y, Pu Y, Ma Y, Jiang L.Transposable elements (TEs) are diverse, abundant, and complicated in genomes. They not only can drive the genome evolution process but can also act as special resources for adaptation. However, little is known about the evolutionary processes that shaped horses. In this work, 126 horse assemblages involved in most horse breeds in China were used to investigate the patterns of TE variation for the first time. By using RepeatMasker and melt software, we found that the horse-specific short interspersed repetitive elements family, equine repetitive elements (ERE1), exhibited polymorphisms in hors...
Romo-Sáenz CI, Tamez-Guerra P, Olivas-Holguin A, Ramos-Zayas Y, Obregón-Macías N, González-Ochoa G, Zavala-Díaz de la Serna FJ....Equine infectious anemia (EIA) is a highly infectious disease in members of the family, caused by equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). The disease severity ranges from subclinical to acute or chronic, and causes significant economic losses in the equine industry worldwide. Serologic tests for detection of EIAV infection have some concerns given the prolonged seroconversion time. Therefore, molecular methods are needed to improve surveillance programs for this disease. We attempted detection of EIAV in 6 clinical and 42 non-clinical horses in Nuevo Leon State, Mexico, using the agar gel immu...
Stasiak K, Dunowska M, Trewick S, Rola J.Equid herpesvirus 5 (EHV-5) is one of two γ-herpesviruses that commonly infect horses worldwide. The objective of the study was to estimate the genetic variability within EHV-5 viruses circulating among horses in Poland. Partial glycoprotein B (gB) sequences from 92 Polish horses from 13 studs throughout Poland were compared to each other and to three EHV-5 sequences from other countries. Despite the overall high level of conservation, considerable variability was observed around the putative furin cleavage site. Based on phylogenetic analysis, the viruses clustered within two major lineages ...
Brown KA, Sayasith K, Bouchard N, Lussier JG, Sirois J.The type 1 form of 17beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17betaHSD1) was the first isoform to be identified and is capable of converting estrone to 17beta-estradiol. This study was aimed at characterizing the molecular structure of the equine 17betaHSD1 gene and cDNA, as well as its molecular regulation during human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)-induced follicular luteinization/ovulation in vivo. The equine 17betaHSD1 gene was cloned from an equine genomic library and shown to have a conserved genomic structure composed of six exons. Its cDNA sequence was also identified and coded for a 308 amin...
Premont A, Saadeh K, Edling C, Lewis R, Marr CM, Jeevaratnam K.Understanding cardiomyocyte ion channel expression is crucial to understanding normal cardiac electrophysiology and underlying mechanisms of cardiac pathologies particularly arrhythmias. Hitherto, equine cardiac ion channel expression has rarely been investigated. Therefore, we aim to predict equine cardiac ion channel gene expression. Raw RNAseq data from normal horses from 9 datasets was retrieved from ArrayExpress and European Nucleotide Archive and reanalysed. The normalised (FPKM) read counts for a gene in a mix of tissue were hypothesised to be the average of the expected expression in e...
Mitchell SW, Moran RA, Elbourne LDH, Chapman B, Bull M, Muscatello G, Coleman NV.Antimicrobial resistance in bacteria is a threat to both human and animal health. We aimed to understand the impact of domestication and antimicrobial treatment on the types and numbers of resistant bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and class 1 integrons (C1I) in the equine gut microbiome. Antibiotic-resistant fecal bacteria were isolated from wild horses, healthy farm horses, and horses undergoing veterinary treatment, and isolates (9,083 colonies) were screened by PCR for C1I; these were found at frequencies of 9.8% (vet horses), 0.31% (farm horses), and 0.05% (wild horses). A co...
Muñoz E, Castro M, Aguila L, Contreras MJ, Fuentes F, Arias ME, Felmer R.Sperm sexing is a technology that can generate great economic benefits in the animal production sector. Techniques such as sex-sorting promise over 90% accuracy in sperm sexing. However, for the correct standardization of the technique, some laboratory methodologies are required. The present manuscript describes in detail a standardized equine sperm sex-sorting protocol using an absolute qPCR-based methodology. Furthermore, the results of absolute qPCR were implemented and validated by generating equine/bovine heterologous embryos by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) of presumably sexed ...
Fritsch H, Pereira FM, Costa EA, Fonseca V, Tosta S, Xavier J, Levy F, Oliveira C, Menezes G, Lima J, Santos L, Silva L, Nardy V, Astete MKG....During these past years, several studies have provided serological evidence regarding the circulation of West Nile virus (WNV) in Brazil. Despite some reports, much is still unknown regarding the genomic diversity and transmission dynamics of this virus in the country. Recently, genomic monitoring activities in horses revealed the circulation of WNV in several Brazilian regions. These findings on the paucity of genomic data reinforce the need for prompt investigation of WNV infection in horses, which may precede human cases of encephalitis in Brazil. Thus, in this study, we retrospectively scr...
Echigoya Y, Okabe H, Itou T, Endo H, Sakai T.Muscle glycogen synthase (GYS1) is the rate-limiting enzyme in glycogen synthesis, and its activity is regulated by the phosphorylation states of certain amino acid residues encoded by the GYS1 gene. In the present study, the authors molecularly characterized the full-length equine GYS1 (eGYS1) cDNA and found that it contains a less common polyadenylation signal (AATACA). An amino acid alignment with other mammalian GYS1 showed that the phosphorylation sites in eGYS1 are completely conserved. Genomic DNA analysis revealed that the equine-specific substitutions (Glu 16 Asp and Ala 252 Thr) were...
Riera FL, Roldán JE, Espinosa JM, Fernandez JE, Ortiz I, Hinrichs K.Embryo biopsy for fetal sexing has clinical application, but few reports are available of its use within an active embryo transfer program. We evaluated results on biopsy of 459 embryos over one breeding season. There were no significant differences in pregnancy rate between biopsied and non-biopsied embryos (72% vs 73%) or for biopsied embryos recovered at the centre (73%) compared with those shipped overnight (72%). However, the pregnancy rate decreased significantly in shipped embryos biopsied ≥20h after collection. Overall, 86% of biopsies provided a sex diagnosis. The likelihood of a po...
Diesterbeck US, Hertsch B, Distl O.The aim of this study was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for pathologic changes in the navicular bone in Hanoverian warmblood horses. Seventeen paternal half-sib groups comprising 192 individuals were analyzed in a whole-genome scan. These families included 144 progeny and grandchildren, which were randomly chosen from the Hanoverian warmblood. Three different traits were considered: deformed canales sesamoidales and radiographic changes in the contour and in the structure of the navicular bone. The genome scan included in total 214 highly polymorphic microsatellite markers. The pu...
Kumar R, Sarkhel SP, Kumar S, Batra K, Sethi K, Jain S, Kumar S, Tripathi BN.Six Trypanosoma evansi isolates were collected from ponies (PH1 and PK6), camel (CB2), donkeys (DJ3 and DH4) and cattle (CK5) from different States of Northern India (Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat) for molecular characterization based on 18S rRNA gene. The 18S rRNA gene (2251 bp) of different isolates was amplified, cloned and custom sequenced separately. Based on sequence and phylogenetic analysis of all six isolates, collected from different hosts as well as geographical areas, were having high identity among Indian T. evansi strains (99.7%) and with other strains of T. eva...
Mei M, Chen R, Gao X, Cao Y, Weng W, Duan Y, Tan X, Liu Z.Meat fraud and adulteration incidents occur frequently in almost all regions of the globe, especially with the increase in the world's population. To ensure the authenticity of meat products, we developed a 10-plex xMAP assay to simultaneously detect ten animal materials: bovine, caprine, poultry, swine, donkey, deer, horse, dog, fox and mink. Results: This method was investigated by analyzing DNA extracts from raw muscle, muscle mixtures, meat products and animal feeds. Our results indicated that the species of interest can be identified, differentiated and detected down to 1 g kg in bina...
Leiberich M, Marais HJ, Naidoo V.The plight of the white rhinoceros () and the increasing need of treatment options for injured poaching victims led to the necessity to expand the knowledge on applicable drugs in this endangered species. With very little information available on drug pharmacokinetics in rhino, veterinarians have to rely on information generated from other species. The horse being a closely related species, has served as the model for dose extrapolations. However, from recent research on enrofloxacin and carprofen, the white rhino showed considerable differences in the pharmacokinetic properties of these drugs...
Bustos CP, Retamar G, Leiva R, Frosth S, Ivanissevich A, Demarchi ME, Walsh S, Frykberg L, Guss B, Mesplet M, Waller A.Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (Sde) is a commensal bacterium of horses that causes opportunistic infections. The aim of the work was to study genotypic and phenotypic properties of the Sde strain related to equine neonatal mastitis. Sde was isolated from an 8 day-old filly and sequenced for genome analysis, antibiotic susceptibility tests and virulence factor (VF) assays. The Sde strain presented the novel emm-subtype stC839.12 and the novel multilocus-sequence type ST-670, which belonged to a specific equine genotype group. Although no specific genotypic mechanisms related to ...
Braend M.During the routine parentage control of Norwegian Trotter horses with 10 000 parent offspring combinations two irregular transmissions of Pr alleles were found. The allele products were provisionally named D1 and D2. They appeared in two stallions which were typed as D1I and D2N respectively. The first stallion transmitted PrD1 to seven out of 10 offspring and the second stallion PrD2 to two of four offspring. Photographs of seven new Pr phenotypes are presented.
Pimentel F, McManus C, Soares K, Caetano AR, de Faria DA, Paiva SR, Ianella P.Optimization of DNA collection for National gene bank and conservation programs requires information on spatial and genetic distribution of animals countrywide. The relationship between genetic and geographic distances were examined in 8 Brazilian horse breeds (Baixadeiro, Crioulo, Campeiro, Lavradeiro, Marajoara, Mangalarga Marchador, Pantaneiro and Puruca) using Single Nucleotide Polymorphism markers and collection point locations. Mantel correlations, Genetic Landscape Shape Interpolation, Allelic Aggregation Index Analyses and Spatial autocorrelation tests indicated a nonrandom distributio...
Mucher E, Jayr L, Rossignol F, Amiot F, Gidrol X, Barrey E.Progress could be achieved by using microarrays to understand metabolic adaptations and disorders in equine muscle in response to exercise. Objective: To test the feasibility of using mouse cDNA microarrays to analyse gene expression profile in normal equine muscles. Methods: Muscular biopsies of dorsal gluteus medius and longissimus lumborum were done in 4 healthy Standardbreds. Total RNA was extracted from the muscle samples. The concentration and quality of RNA were measured before and after amplification. Gene expression profiles were measured using mouse cDNA microarrays including 15,264 ...
Morandi L, Sabattini S, Renzi A, Rigillo A, Bettini G, Dervas E, Schauer A, Morandi M, Gissi DB, Tarsitano A, Evangelisti S, Tonon C.Ultra-conserved non-coding elements (UCNEs) are genomic sequences that exhibit > 95% sequence identity between humans, mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish. Recent findings reported their functional role in cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the DNA methylation modifications of UNCEs in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) from different mammal species. Fifty SCCs from 26 humans, 17 cats, 3 dogs, 1 horse, 1 bovine, 1 badger, and 1 porcupine were investigated. Fourteen feline stomatitis and normal samples from 36 healthy human donors, 7 cats, 5 dogs, 5 horses, 2 bovines and 1 badger were c...
