Molecular biology in horses involves the study of molecular processes and genetic mechanisms that underpin equine physiology and health. This field encompasses the analysis of DNA, RNA, proteins, and other biomolecules to understand gene expression, genetic variation, and cellular functions in horses. Techniques such as genomic sequencing, gene expression profiling, and molecular diagnostics are employed to explore topics like hereditary diseases, performance traits, and immune responses in equines. This page assembles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that investigate the molecular biology of horses, focusing on genetic research, molecular techniques, and their applications in equine science.
Goranov Kh.The alkaline phosphatase enzyme, isolated by Morton's method from leukocytes of sheep, goats, and pigs gave after agarose elctrophoresis two isoenzyme fractions moving to the positive pole at the sites of the alpha 1- and alpha 2-globulins of the blood serum. In bovine leukocytes, besides these two fractions there was a third one that moved more slowly in the zone of the beta-globulins. In horses the alkaline phosphatase of leukocytes produced a wide band within the zones of the beta-globulins and the albumins. It was established that the proportion between the individual isoenzyme fractions o...
Ek N.The Pr protein, which is one of the major equine acidic prealbumins and which consists of a large number of phenotypes, has been studied with regard to its chemical identity. Serum samples of known Pr phenotype which had been treated with varying amounts of bovine trypsin were subjected to starch gel electrophoresis at pH 4.8. When a certain amount of trypsin was used, the Pr protein was markedly affected, whereas the other acidic prealbumins retained their normal electrophoreitic pattern. Extracts from three different regions of the acidic prealbumin field were tested by the casein precipitat...
Schroeder E, Wollmer A, Kubicki J, Ohlenbusch HD.The effect of proton concentration upon the subunit dissociation of horse methemoglobin has been investigated at two ionic strengths by light scattering photometry at 700 nm. Differential refractometry revealed a slight but systematic decrease of the specific refractive index increment with decreasing protein concentration for solutions in dialytic equilibrium with the solvent. In the pH range 4.8-7.2 the dissociation can be described by a simple equilibrium between tetramers and dimers. The dissociation constant Kd of the met derivative is found to be very similar to those of the O2- and CO-l...
Rifkind JM, Lauer LD, Chiang SC, Li NC.Oxidation studies of hemoglobin by Cu(II) indicate that for horse hemoglobin, up to a Cu(II)/heme molar ratio of 0.5, all of the Cu(II) added is used to rapidly oxidize the heme. On the other hand, most of the Cu(II) added to human hemoglobin at low Cu(II)/heme molar ratios is unable to oxidize the heme. Only at Cu(II)/heme molar ratios greater than 0.5 does the amount of oxidation per added Cu(II) approach that of horse hemoglobin. At the same time, binding studies indicate that human hemoglobin has an additional binding site involving one copper for every two hemes, which has a higher copper...
Stefanini S, Chiancone E, Vecchini P, Antonini E.Iron uptake and micelle formation in ferritin and apoferritin have been followed both spectrophotometrically and by means of sedimentation velocity experiments. Information was thus obtained on the molecular weight distribution of the reconstitution product. To achieve incorporation 'native' ferritin (whole ferritin as purified from horse spleen), 'native' apoferritin (apoferritin prepared by fractionation of ferritin preparations) and 'reduced' apoferritin (apoferritin prepared by reduction of ferritin by dithionite or ascorbic acid) have been incubated with ferrous salts in the presence of o...
Kojima Y, Berger C, Vallee BL, Kägi JH.The amino-acid sequence of a metallothionein is reported. Metallothionein is a widely distributed, extremely cysteine-rich, low-molecular-weight protein containing large amounts of cadmium and/or zinc. Metallothionein-1B is one of the two prinicipal variants occurring in equine kidney cortex. The single-chain protein contains 61 amino acids and has the composition Cys20 Ser8Lys7Arg1Ala7Gly5Val3Asp2Asn1-Glu1Gln2Pro2Thr1Met1(Cd + Zn)7. Its amino-terminal residue is N-acetylmethionine. The sequence shows distinct clustering of the twenty cysteinyl residues into seven groups separated by stretches...
Kundriutskova LA, Kruglikova RI.Hydrolysis of ethers of saturated and unsaturated alcohols and ethers, e.g. phenol and choline, under the action of horse blood serum cholinesterase, was studied. The reactivity towards enzymatic hydrolysis is decreased due to a greater length of the chain in the alcohol residue of the benzoic acid aminoethers; at nCH2 = 4 the compound is a poor substrate. An increase in nydrophobicity of the acyl residue of the ether molecule also leads to a decrease in the Vmax and Km values. In case of cholinesterase substrates, an increase in the molecule hydrophobicity results in an increase of its non-pr...
Glöckner WM, Newman RA, Dahr W, Uhlenbruck G.Phenol extraction of horse, sheep, cow, pig and human erythrocyte membranes and human milk fat globule membranes gave glycoprotein fractions, all of which were shown by gas chromatography to contain the reduced disaccharide beta-D-galactosyl (1-3)-N-acetyl-D-galactosaminital after treatment with alkaline borohydride. Cow and pig erythrocyte membrane glycoproteins were found however to contain much lower amounts than the erythrocyte membrane glycoproteins of the other species tested. After gel filtration, a tetrasaccharide was isolated from horse and sheep glycoproteins containing the disacchar...
Charman HP, Bladen S, Gilden RV, Coggins L.Equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) has a density of 1.154 g/cm3 in sucrose a high-molecular-weight RNA similar in size to Rauscher murine leukemia virus, and an internal virion reverse transcriptase that utilizes the synthetic RNA template poly(rA) but not the synthetic DNA template poly(dA), both with (dT)12 as primer. Although capable of utilizing manganese at low concentrations (approximately 0.1 mM), EIAV reverse transcriptase showed highest activity in the presence of 9 mM magnesium. The major protein of EIAV has a slightly lower molecular weight than the comparable protein of type C v...
Sampaio MU, Galembeck F, Paiva AC, Prado ES.The kinetic constants for horse urinary kallikrein and trypsin hydrolysis of BAEE, TAME, bradykinin methyl ester and bradykinyl-Ser-Val-Gin-Val-Ser were determined. The values of the ratio kcat/Km show that (1) kallikrein is catalytically less efficient than trypsin for all the substrates (2) the three esters are equally good substrates for trypsin while horse urinary kallikrein is 100-fold more effective on bradykinin methyl ester than on the other substrates (3) for both enzymes the ester of bradykinin is a better substrate than the tetradecapeptide.
Sampaio CA, Prado ES.Ala-Phe-Lys-CH2-Cl is a chloromethylketone derivative which is able to promote the inhibition of several proteolytic enzymes. In this paper the inhibition of horse urinary and plasmatic kallikreins is described and this inhibition is compared to that produced in human plasma kallikrein. This compound was designed based upon the structure of bradykinin. This enzyme substrate system can provide a model for the study of the interactions between bradykinin and its receptor. The inhibition of the enzymes was achieved both for its esterase and kinin-releasing activities.
Holowka DA, Cathou RE.IgM antibodies specific for the fluorophore epsiolon-1-dimethylamino-5-naphthalenesulfonyl-L-lysine(DNS-lysine) were elicited in the horse and nurse shark by immunization with a DNS-lysine streptococcal conjugate; the antibodies were purified by specific adsorption with an immunoadsorbent followed by gel filtration to select the IgM class (molecular weight 900 000). About 90% of the equine anti-DNS was IgM.DNS-Lysine, when bound in the combining sites of a population of these anti-DNS IgM antigodies from horse and nurse shark, as well as from pig, exhibited a marked fluorescence enhancement an...
Saiatov MKh, Beĭsembaeva RU.Profiles of distribution of non-specific gamma-inhibitors of influenza A2/Victoria/35/72 in donkey and horse sera were established by gel chromatography in Sephadex G-200. High and low molecular inhibitors were found in 19S and 4S serum fractions. Highly purified preparations of a2-macroglobulin, transferrine and albumin were isolated by a combination of methods of salt precipitation, gel chromatography on Sephadex G-100, G-200 and ion exchange on DEAE-Sephadex A-50. Heating sera resulted in a considerable increase of the antiviral activity of a2-macroglobulin and transferrine and a reduction ...
Johnson PE, Maister SG, Knowles JR.Phosphoglycerate kinase has been isolated in crystalline form from horse muscle. A convenient isolation procedure is described that yields homogeneous enzyme of specific activity 700 units/mg (30 degrees C). The enzyme is monomeric, and has a molecular weight 47 000. Of the eight cysteine residues in the protein, two react rapidly with Nbs21 with the concomitant loss of the catalytic activity. Since the isolation of phosphoglycerate kinase from yeast (Bücher, 1955) there have been several reports of purification methods yielding enzyme approaching molecular homogeneity, from rabbit muscle (Be...
Groman EV, Schultz RM, Engel LL, Orr JC.In the reduction of 17beta-hydroxy-5alpha-androstan-3-one to the 3beta-alcohol, horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase utilizes the 4-pro-R hydrogen of NADH whereas the 3(17)beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase of Pseudomonas testosteroni utulized the 4-pro-S hydrogen. These observations provide an exception to the rule proposed by Alworth and Bentley that with regard to the paired methylene hydrogens at C-4 of NADH and NADPH "the stereospecificity of a particular reaction is fixed and does not vary with the source of the enzyme preparation". It is also apparent that for these two enzymes, the selecti...
Verhaegen M, Sand G.The distribution of protein phosphokinase (EC 2.7.1.37) activities has been established in horse thyroid nuclei. The presence of several enzyme activities has been demonstrated, two of which are clearly distinct. The first one acts on histone as substrate and is activated by cyclic AMP. Physico-chemical properties of this nuclear cyclic AMP-dependent histone kinase and of the cytosol histone kinase are different, demonstrating the absence of a contamination from the cytosol. The second enzyme acts on casein as substrate and is not stimulated by cyclic AMP POR CYCLIC GMP. The findings are consi...
Sogin DC, Plapp BV.Diazonium-1H-tetrazole was tested as a potential active-site-directed reagent for amino acid residues involved in catalysis by alcohol dehydrogenase. In a novel reaction with a protein, diazonium-1H-tetrazole inactivated the enzyme selectively, and almost stoichiometrically, but reacting with the sulfur of a cysteine residue, Cys-174. As a model compound, the tetrazole adduct of free cysteine was prepared. Elementary and spectral analyses of the adduct were consistent with the structure 5-tetrazoleazo-S-cysteine. The adduct absorbs light with a maximun at 316 nm, and is destroyed by irradiatio...
Dubin A, Koj A, Chudzik J.Cytoplasmic granules were isolated from horse blood polymorphonuclear leucocytes by the heparin method and extracted with 0.9% NaCl by repeated freezing. Soluble proteins were separated on a column of Sephadex G-75 followed by chromatography on a column of CM-Sephadex with a NaCl gradient. Gel filtration, density-gradient centrifugation, isoelectric focusing and 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulphate/polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis at pH 7.0 and at pH 4.5 were used to determine molecular parameters of proteinases. Three enzymes hydrolysing both casein and N-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-alanine nitrophenyl est...
Gagliardi R, Koch DW, Loeser R, Schnabel LV.Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating disease that impacts millions of individuals and has limited therapeutic options. A significant hindrance to therapeutic discovery is the lack of in vitro OA models that translate reliably to in vivo preclinical animal models. An alternative to traditional inflammatory cytokine models is the matrikine stimulation model, in which fragments of matrix proteins naturally found in OA tissues and synovial fluid, are used to stimulate cells of the joint. The objective of this study was to determine if matrikine stimulation of equine synovial fibroblasts and chond...
Luan Y, Zhong L, Li C, Yue X, Ye M, Wang J, Zhu Y, Wang Q.Polydactyly was recorded before 100 BCE and attracted widespread interest because of its relationship to limb health and ancestral traits in horses. However, the underlying reasons for the development of polydactyly remain unclear. To search for polydactyly-related genes, we utilize a paternal half-sib family and screen for variants that match the mode of inheritance. Through this screening process, 77 variants in 65 genes are filtered. A missense variant (EqCab3.0 chr4: <107353368> A > G) (rs1138485164) in the 3rd exon of LMBR1 is identified as a source of amino acid sequence variatio...
Akbari H, Basaki M, Imani Baran A, Akbarzadeh Z.Anaplasmosis, a tick-borne disease with worldwide distribution, impacts ruminants, equines, carnivores, and humans. This study aimed to investigate Anaplasma phagocytophilum in horses from Ardabil province and Anaplasma ovis in small ruminants from East Azerbaijan province using the Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method. Blood samples were taken from the jugular vein of 100 healthy horses in the Ardabil province and 156 healthy sheep and goats (116 sheep and 40 goats) in the East Azerbaijan province during the spring and summer seasons of 2016 in northwest Iran. The collected blood sam...
Wu J, Na H, Bai F, Li S, Gao H, Sha R.Horse bone is rich in collagen, with a composition similar to that of human collagen. Collagen peptides supply nutrients needed for human growth that act as antioxidants, lower blood pressure. This study explored the extraction of collagen and the preparation of collagen short peptides from Mongolian horse bones. Bones were collected from horses of varying ages, and the collagen content along with calcium salt distribution were observed through staining and imaging analyses. Next, the bones were processed into a powder and then subjected to ultra-high-pressure processing for degreasing. The de...
Bianchera A, Borghetti P, Ravanetti F, Bertocchi L, De Angelis E, Bettini R.Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a key component of synovial fluid as it plays a crucial role in joint physiology. Its biological activity is influenced by molecular weight, local concentration, and persistence in joints. High-molecular-weight HA has a consolidated history of clinical use, whereas little is known about the metabolic effect of low-molecular-weight hyaluronate on cartilage differentiation. This study explores the potential of HA-based nanoparticles (NPs) on chondrocytes differentiation in vitro. Starting from 25 kDa and 250 kDa sodium hyaluronate solutions, two types of NPs were prepared...
Mazzei M, Sorvillo B, Sgorbini M, Bindi F, Perelli A, Laus F.(1) Background: Respiratory problems may be associated with pathogens among which viruses may play an important role in causing or promoting clinical signs. However, traditional diagnostic methods for equine infectious diseases, such as PCR, are limited to known pathogens and often miss rare or novel viruses. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing is a transformative method that allows the sequencing of all genomes present in a sample. Recent studies have used next-generation sequences to identify viral sequences in horses with unexplained respiratory symptoms, revealing potential links betwee...
Mazzei M, Sorvillo B, Sgorbini M, Bindi F, Perelli A, Laus F.(1) Background: Respiratory problems may be associated with pathogens among which viruses may play an important role in causing or promoting clinical signs. However, traditional diagnostic methods for equine infectious diseases, such as PCR, are limited to known pathogens and often miss rare or novel viruses. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing is a transformative method that allows the sequencing of all genomes present in a sample. Recent studies have used next-generation sequences to identify viral sequences in horses with unexplained respiratory symptoms, revealing potential links betwee...
Ma Y, Liu Y, Li H, Yang K, Yao G.Angular limb deformities (ALDs) are a common skeletal development disorder in newborn foals. This condition affects the growth and development of foals and severely impacts their future athletic performance and economic value, causing significant financial losses to the horse industry. Placentitis, metritis, and severe metabolic diseases during mare pregnancy are significant causes of ALDs in newborn foals. It has been established that intestinal flora disorders can easily lead to inflammatory and metabolic diseases in the host. However, the incidence of ALDs in foals in Zhaosu County, Xinjian...
Vinijkumthorn R, Kingkaw A, Yanyongsirikarn P, Phaonakrop N, Roytrakul S, Vongsangnak W, Tesena P.Equine melanocytic neoplasm (EMN) represents a form of skin tumor observed predominantly in grey horses aged over 15 years. Despite its prevalence, current therapeutic and preventive strategies for EMN have been subject to limited investigation. This study endeavors to shed light on potential phosphoproteins present in equine serum and fecal samples, potentially linked to EMN, with a specific focus on functional interactions in EMN pathogenesis. We examined 50 samples (25 serum, 25 feces), divided into three groups based on EMN severity: normal (n = 16), mild (n = 18), and severe EMN (...
Toft K, Honoré ML, Ripley N, Nielsen MK, Mardahl M, Fromm B, Hedberg-Alm Y, Tydén E, Nielsen LN, Nejsum P, Thamsborg SM, Cirera S, Pihl TH.The equine bloodworm, Strongylus vulgaris, is a common and highly pathogenic parasite in horses due to its migratory life cycle involving the intestinal arteries. Current diagnostic techniques cannot detect the prepatent migrating stages of S. vulgaris, highlighting the need for new biomarkers. Parasites release microRNAs (miRNAs) into their environment, which could potentially be detectable in host blood samples. Additionally, host miRNA expression patterns may change in response to infection. This study aimed to identify miRNAs associated with S. vulgaris infection by profiling the horse's m...
Benitez-Ibalo AP, Debárbora VN, Mangold AJ, Nava S, Sebastian PS.After the previous description and characterization of Theileria equi sensu stricto (Genotype A) in Argentina, the aim of the present study was to investigate the possible heterogeneity of 18 S rDNA genotypes circulating in this country. Therefore, blood samples from 18 horses from two different neighborhoods of Corrientes City, Corrientes Province, were analyzed for infection with Theileria species. Theileria DNA was detected in five samples (27.8%). Four nearly complete 18 S rDNA gene sequences were obtained and phylogenetic analyses were carried out. The maximum likelihood tree constructe...
Wang Z, Li Y, Xi X, Zou Q, Zhang Y.In this paper, a novel molecularly imprinted polymer membrane modified glassy carbon electrode for electrochemical sensors (MIP-OH-MWCNTs-GCE) for epinephrine (EP) was successfully prepared by a gel-sol method using an optimized functional monomer oligosilsesquioxane-AlO sol-ITO composite sol (ITO-POSS-AlO). Hydroxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (OH-MWCNTs) were introduced during the modification of the electrodes, and the electrochemical behavior of EP on the molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensors was probed by the differential pulse velocity (DPV) method. The experimental conditi...
Sharma NK, Singh P, Saha B, Bhardwaj A, Iquebal MA, Pal Y, Nayan V, Jaiswal S, Giri SK, Legha RA, Bhattacharya TK, Kumar D, Rai A.Copy number variations (CNVs) have become widely acknowledged as a significant source of genomic variability and phenotypic variance. To understand the genetic variants in horses, CNVs from six Indian horse breeds, namely, Manipuri, Zanskari, Bhutia, Spiti, Kathiawari and Marwari were discovered using Axiom™ Equine Genotyping Array. These breeds differed in agro-climatic adaptation with distinct phenotypic characters. A total of 2668 autosomal CNVs and 381 CNV regions (CNVRs) were identified with PennCNV tool. DeepCNV was employed to re-validate to get 883 autosomal CNVs, of which 9.06% were...
Cardeti G, Manna G, Cersini A, Nardini R, Rosati S, Reina R, Cittadini M, Sittinieri S, Altigeri A, Marcario GA, Scicluna MT.The mechanisms of the innate immunity control of equine infectious anemia virus in horses are not yet widely described. Equine monocytes isolated from the peripheral blood of three Equine infectious anemia (EIA) seronegative horses were differentiated in vitro into macrophages that gave rise to mixed cell populations morphologically referable to M1 and M2 phenotypes. The addition of two equine recombinant cytokines and two EIA virus reference strains, Miami and Wyoming, induced a more specific cell differentiation, and as for other species, IFNγ and IL4 stimulation polarized horse macrophages...
Myćka G, Ropka-Molik K, Cywińska A, Stefaniuk-Szmukier M.Among numerous genes that have been a focus of equine genetic research, the (Klotho) and (Alpha-actinin-3) genes stand out due to their significant roles in muscle function and overall health, as well as performance ability. Previous studies on Arabian horses and other mammalians have shown that both and occur in different isoforms that seem to have different roles in metabolism. The main purpose of this present study was to describe different isoforms (, , , , , ) expression levels affected by the endurance effort in Arabian horses. Methods: Blood samples were taken from a group of = 10 ...
Boozarjomehri Amnieh S, Hassanpour A, Moghaddam S, Sakhaee F, Ropka-Molik K.The gene is vital for fatty acid metabolism and is linked to environmental stress and physical exertion adaptation. The p.Asp237Ser variant (rs782885985) in is associated with increased enzyme activity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. This study examined the polymorphism across six horse breeds in Iran: Arabian, Thoroughbred, KWPN, Caspian, Kurdish, and Turkmen. The goal was to identify differences in genotype distribution, potentially serving as genetic markers under selection pressure related to breed-specific traits. In a sample of 324 horses, genomic DNA was analyzed using PCR...
Finno CJ, Rogers SL, Donnelly CG, Affolter VK, Woolard K, Miller AD, Bellone RR, Petersen JL.Equine spinal neurodegenerative conditions are frequently encountered in sport and racing horses and may be career-ending diagnoses. To further define the spatial transcriptomic landscape of equine dorsal root ganglia (DRG) in healthy adult horses, we investigated gene expression differences in distinct DRG regions using the GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiling from NanoString. Four human cell markers demonstrated high fidelity for equine cells; microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2), myelin basic protein (MBP), allograft inflammatory 104 factor 1/ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (IBA1/A...
Kozak S, Merda D, Chesnais V, Breuil MF, Harrison M, Zdovc I, Golob M, Petry S, Duquesne F.Taylorella equigenitalis is the causative agent of contagious equine metritis, an internationally regulated sexually-transmitted infection in horses, which is of great concern as it usually results in temporary infertility. Taylorella asinigenitalis, the second member of the genus, is mainly found in donkeys and is considered non-pathogenic, although a first natural outbreak was reported in 2019 in the United Arab Emirates. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) is currently used to study the epidemiology of Taylorella spp. but, while highly transposable and reproducible, it only focuses on < 0.5...
Haenni M, Murri S, Drapeau A, Rafidinarivo I, Gilles S, Keck N, Léon A, Sulter A, Tricaud MC, François P, Madec JY.Staphylococcus aureus is an important zoonotic pathogen that has often been seen in animals through the prism of the MRSA clonal complex (CC) 398 in pigs and in-contact humans. The goal of this study was first to assess the prevalence of MRSA, and second to look for MSSA CC398 in cats, dogs and horses in France. Methods: Clinical S. aureus isolates (n = 479) were collected from 186 cats, 143 dogs and 150 horses during 2022-2023 all over the French territory. Antibiograms were performed on all isolates. MRSA and MSSA CC398 isolates were subject to WGS. Core genome (cg) MLST-based and SNP-ba...
Heath HD, Peng S, Szmatola T, Ryan S, Bellone RR, Kalbfleisch T, Petersen JL, Finno CJ.Allele-specific expression (ASE) analysis provides a nuanced view of cis-regulatory mechanisms affecting gene expression. Results: An equine ASE analysis was performed, using integrated Iso-seq and short-read RNA sequencing data from four healthy Thoroughbreds (2 mares and 2 stallions) across 9 tissues from the Functional Annotation of Animal Genomes (FAANG) project. Allele expression was quantified by haplotypes from long-read data, with 42,900 allele expression events compared. Within these events, 635 (1.48%) demonstrated ASE, with liver tissue containing the highest proportion. Genetic var...
Valberg SJ, Williams ZJ.Myofibrillar myopathy (MFM) is characterized by segmental disarray of myofibrils and ectopic accumulation of a protein called desmin. Previously thought to be a glycogen storage disease, MFM is now recognized as a stand-alone myopathy. Endurance Arabians with MFM usually present with exertional rhabdomyolysis (MFM-ER) at the end of races, elevated serum muscle enzymes, and myoglobinuria. Warmblood horses with MFM (MFM-WB) usually present with pain-associated behaviors such as exercise intolerance, reluctance to engage hind quarter muscles, shifting lameness and normal serum muscle enzymes. Bot...
Fegraeus K, Riihimäki M, Nordlund J, Akula S, Wernersson S, Raine A.Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) is a valuable tool for investigating cellular heterogeneity in diseases such as equine asthma (EA). This study evaluates the HIVE™ scRNA-seq method, a pico-well-based technology, for processing bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells from horses with EA. The HIVE method offers practical advantages, including compatibility with both field and clinical settings, as well as a gentle workflow suited for handling sensitive cells. Our results show that the major cell types in equine BAL were successfully identified; however, the proportions of T cells and macropha...
Baville E, Carstanjen B, Thomas-Cancian A, Calgaro A, Bonnet N, Tiret L, Gache V, Abitbol M.Supernumerary digits, or polydactyly, have been described in various species including humans, wild and domestic animals. In horses, it represents the most common congenital limb malformation, which has only been described in isolated cases or nuclear families. Molecular aetiology has not been reported. Objective: To characterise the phenotype of a non-syndromic pre-axial polydactyly in a horse family and to decipher the inheritance pattern. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: Forty-three members of the family including a previously reported polydactyl case were recruited. Available clinica...
Shi Y, Maga EA, Mienaltowski MJ.Diarrhea is a common disease that could threaten the welfare of newborn foals. While there are several forms of foal diarrhea, the etiologies can be considered known pathogenic or non-pathogenic in nature. Moreover, there are likely differences in the composition of microbial populations in the gastrointestinal tracts of foals depending upon the etiology of diarrhea. Our study aims to examine the microbial population in the feces of foals with both pathogenic and non-pathogenic diarrheas to discern differences in their microbial compositions. Results: Foal diarrhea samples tested positive or n...
Ishikawa Y, Tufa SF, Keene DR, Bächinger HP, Winand NJ.Mutations in the collagen-modifying enzyme lysyl hydroxylase 1 (LH1) cause Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome (WFFS) in horses. We investigated the impact of this mutation on collagen structure and function. Our results show that LH1 deficiency leads to reduced lysine hydroxylation, altered collagen fibril organization, and tissue abnormalities resembling human Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. These findings highlight the critical role of LH1 in collagen biosynthesis and provide insights into the pathogenesis of WFFS.
Nowicka B, Polkowska I, Zeliszewska-Duk P, Torres A, Duk M.Similarly, in humans and horses, thoracic and lumbosacral back pain cause more disability and work interruptions worldwide than any other disease. Given that there are few effective treatments for back pain in humans and animals, primary prevention strategies and a reduction in pain factors may be crucial. In the analysed data obtained for the horses studied, the pattern of changes in adipocytokine concentrations, including resistin, visfatin and leptin, was noted for those with back pain compared to the control animals. Concentrations of selected adipocytokines in horses from the back pain gr...
Faulk C.Sequencing a genome by students has now become practical as we demonstrated with our recent publication of the Przewalski's horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) genome. In this review, I describe my experience teaching genome assembly in the classroom. In my course, students sequenced, assembled, and published a high-quality genome for Przewalski's horse using Oxford Nanopore long-read sequencing with only $4000 of materials. Along with the genome, we assembled the mitochondrial genome, sequence variants, predicted gene annotations, and DNA methylation levels. Our genome statistics far exceeded the...
Alim S, Cheppali SK, Pawar SS, Swamy MJ.Fibronectin type-II (FnII) proteins are major constituents in the seminal plasma of many mammals and play a crucial role in sperm capacitation. Additionally, the seminal FnII proteins from bull and horse exhibit chaperone-like activity (CLA), by acting as small heat shock proteins (shsps). The present work demonstrates that the major FnII protein of donkey seminal plasma, DSP-1 exhibits CLA with broad specificity and protects various client proteins such as alcohol dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase and enolase against thermal and oxidative stress. Binding of phosphorylcholine (PrC) - the he...
van der Graaf L, Leigh W, Szmatoła T, Roberts K, Ryan S, Brown B, Van Buren S, Finno CJ, Petersen JL.Anhidrosis is defined as a decreased or absent ability to sweat in response to heat and exercise. In horses, this condition can increase the risk of life-threatening hyperthermia. A prior study has suggested that equine anhidrosis is associated with a missense variant (rs68643109) in the Potassium Voltage-Gated Channel Subfamily E Regulatory Subunit 4 (KCNE4) gene. This project aimed to validate this association in a population of well-phenotyped horses and to determine the allele frequency of this variant in publicly available whole-genome sequence data. Fifty horses within the University of ...
Fernandes TA, Paulino PG, Dos Santos Juliano D, Rabello CA, de Oliveira NVB, de Souza Santana M, Peckle M, Massard CL, da Costa Angelo I, Jacob JCF....Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is a reportable disease according to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), caused by Babesia caballi, Theileria equi and T. haneyi. This syndrome is prevalent in tropical and subtropical regions, including various areas in Brazilian. This study examines EP in the Distrito Federal, Brazil, focusing on prevalence, epidemiological characteristics, and circulating genotypes. Epidemiological data and whole blood samples were collected from horses in the Distrito Federal. DNA was analyzed using qPCR for Theileria sp. and B. caballi, followed by cPCR for 18S rDNA ...
