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.
Ding W, Gong W, Bou T, Shi L, Lin Y, Shi X, Li Z, Wu H, Dugarjaviin M, Bai D, Zhao Y.Speed and endurance are the primary goals in racehorse breeding. The Grassland-Thoroughbred is a newly developed breed in northern China that combines speed, endurance, and environmental adaptability. However, current research on the genetic background of this breed and the genes associated with athletic performance remains limited. We conducted whole-genome resequencing on Mongolian (MG), Thoroughbred (TB), Xilingol (XL), and Grassland-Thoroughbred (CY) horses, generating 3813.74 Gb of clean data after quality control. The number of transitions was significantly higher than that of transversi...
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...
Asti V, Summer A, Ablondi M, Sartori C, Giontella A, Pilastro V, Mecocci S, Cappelli K, Mancin E, Oian A, Mantovani R, Capomaccio S, Sabbioni A.Horses have undergone extensive natural and artificial selection, shaping the diversity of breeds observed today. Native Italian breeds present unique traits influenced by natural selection, such as adaptation to harsh climates, or hoof strength, but face challenges due to population declines and the reduction of their original breeding purpose. This study focuses on five local Italian breeds: Bardigiano, Haflinger, Maremmano, Murgese, and Italian Heavy Draught Horse, to understand how selection has shaped their populations. A total of 1620 individuals were genotyped with a medium-density SNP ...
Golen GS, Erganiş O, Balevi A. is an important bacterial pathogen and causes severe chronic granulomatous pneumonia in foals below 6 months of age. It has also become an opportunistic and emerging pathogen in immunocompromised humans. Vaccination is the most cost-effective strategy for controlling and preventing this infection. Although several potential virulence genes and candidate immunogens have been identified over the years, no effective vaccine is currently available to prevent disease in horses. Recently, bacterial vector vaccines have been shown to be promising for In this study, the gene of was cloned into P...
Toft K, Mardahl M, Hedberg-Alm Y, Anlén K, Tydén E, Nielsen MK, Honoré ML, Fromm B, Nielsen LN, Nejsum P, Thamsborg SM, Cirera S, Pihl TH.Non-strangulating intestinal infarctions (NSII) associated with Strongylus vulgaris infection and idiopathic peritonitis (IP) share similar clinical presentation but require different treatment approaches. Horses with NSII need surgical intervention, while idiopathic peritonitis cases can be successfully treated with antimicrobials. A correct diagnosis is thus crucial, but because the two diseases overlap in clinicopathological features, differentiation is difficult in clinical practice. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are non-coding RNAs that exhibit measurable changes in abundance in tissues and circulat...
Yuen BP, Wong KS, So YM, Kwok WH, Cheung HW, Wan TSM, Ho EN, Wong WT.The development of gene therapy techniques introduces a potential risk of gene doping, which threatens the integrity of sport. In response to this challenge, we have developed a novel analytical method that employs a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in conjunction with liquid chromatography high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS) for the simultaneous identification of multiple transgenes in equine plasma within a single reaction. The method targets three potential doping transgenes: equine growth hormone 1 (eGH1), equine growth hormone-releasing hormone (eGHRH), and equi...
Li X, Hu S, Yu Z, He F, Zhao X, Liu R.Nanoplastics (NPs) are emerging pollutants worldwide. Particularly worrisome is that although studies have reported that NPs can amplify the biotoxicity of environmental pollutants, the specific mechanism remains unclear. Here, we found that NPs, even without significant toxicity (cell survival: 99.11%), amplified the hepatocyte toxicity of Cd. Mechanistically, higher Cd uptake (Δ = 23.80%) combined with crucial intracellular desorption behavior of Cd loaded in NPs (desorption rate: 82.70%) were identified as prerequisites for NPs amplifying Cd cytotoxicity. As for toxigenic pathways, the inf...
Bhoora RV, Mbaba TV, Troskie M, Ackermann RE, Collins NE.Theileria haneyi is an apicomplexan parasite closely related to Theileria equi, a known causative agent of equine piroplasmosis. The molecular distinction between these parasites relies on a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, which has been reported to be unreliable. A recently reported indirect ELISA based on equi merozoite antigen 11 (Thema-11) of T. haneyi can detect geographically diverse T. haneyi strains. Since the ema-11 gene is exclusive to T. haneyi, it was chosen as the target for developing a TaqMan minor groove binder (MGB™) quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Published...
The potential of effective microorganisms in composting animal manure might be significant. This work aimed at isolating promising microbial strains for composting cattle and horse manure. A total of forty-five isolates have been isolated from soils of Northern Kazakhstan as well as cattle and horse manure. These microorganisms were extensively studied for their cellulose-degrading capacity, non-pathogenicity, protease, nitrogenase and catalase activities, as well as their growth stimulation, antagonistic ability, and growth rate. As a result, 21 potent strains were selected and genotyped for ...
Hosseinzadeh S, Nofouzi K, Hasanzadeh F, Esmaeili S, Ayen E.Q fever is a frequently occurring illness that is induced by the bacterium ) that can infect humans and various animals. It targets the macrophage cells in the tissues, and circulating monocytes. Unassigned: This study was conducted between 2022 and 2023 in the West Azerbaijan and Ardabil provinces of northwestern Iran to examine the presence infection of . Specimens were obtained by swabbing from 140 mares (70 from each province) and 20 stallions (10 from each province) which were apparently healthy, and their DNA was analyzed using quantitative PCR assay detecting the element of the bacteri...
Hosseinzadeh S, Nofouzi K, Hasanzadeh F, Esmaeili S, Ayen E.Q fever is a frequently occurring illness that is induced by the bacterium ) that can infect humans and various animals. It targets the macrophage cells in the tissues, and circulating monocytes. Unassigned: This study was conducted between 2022 and 2023 in the West Azerbaijan and Ardabil provinces of northwestern Iran to examine the presence infection of . Specimens were obtained by swabbing from 140 mares (70 from each province) and 20 stallions (10 from each province) which were apparently healthy, and their DNA was analyzed using quantitative PCR assay detecting the element of the bacteri...
Kaur K, Sharma D, Haldar KK, Kumar R.Au/ZnO nanocomposites (NCs) were synthesized and characterized by using various analytical techniques. Analysis of Au/ZnO NCs effect on H NMR, CD, fluorescence, and absorbance spectra of horse myoglobin (-Mb) at 0.0 and 5.0 M urea (pH 7.4) revealed that the Au/ZnO NCs weaken the heme-globin interactions and also disrupt the secondary/tertiary structure of -Mb. Furthermore, the Au/ZnO NCs effect of weakening the heme-globin interactions and disrupting the protein structures was detected more in the denaturant media than in the aqueous solution. Analysis of the Au/ZnO NCs effect on thermodynamic...
Szacawa E, Kozieł N, Brzezińska S, Augustynowicz-Kopeć E, Weiner M, Szulowski K, Krajewska-Wędzina M. is one of the most dangerous pathogens of both animals and humans. Bovine tuberculosis (BTB) is a disease caused by mycobacteria belonging to the complex (MTBC), which spreads mainly among domestic cattle but also to mammals other than cattle. The transmission of MTBC between different species requires research and epidemiological investigations to control its spread. When multiple species are a reservoir of infection, it poses a significant public health and veterinary concern. In this study, the diagnosis of alpaca, cattle, horses, dogs, a sheep and a cat from one farm suspected of bovine ...
Mizani A, Taherkhani P, Kia Lashaki E, Hosseini SA, Basirpour B, Dodangeh S.Giardia duodenalis as a common zoonotic parasite is a public health problem infecting humans and a wide range of animals, including horses. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the global pooled prevalence of Giardia infection in horses. Literature searches were conducted using databases including Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubMed, Web of Science and ProQuest to December 2023. A random-effect model was performed to calculate the pooled prevalence and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) according to the degree of heterogeneity in the included studies. Of 2661 ar...
Milczek-Haduch D, Żmigrodzka M, Witkowska-Piłaszewicz O.Significant systemic metabolic benefits result from even a single exercise session by activating multiple metabolic and signaling pathways within the organism. Among these mechanisms, extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a critical role by delivering their molecular cargo to neighboring or distant cells, thereby influencing cellular metabolism and function. As research progresses, EVs represent an exciting frontier in exercise science and fitness adaptation processes. There is increasing interest in understanding the physiology of EVs as signaling particles and their use as minimally invasive dia...
Pádua GT, Tavares MA, de Lima NJ, Paula WVF, Dos Santos GC, Neves LC, Bittencourt RBM, Paludo RLDR, Cardoso ERN, da Silva BBF, Pádua BR....This study sought to investigate the presence of anti- spp. antibodies in georeferenced serum samples from equids across all regions of the state of Goiás, while also presenting variables that indicate risk factors for the circulation of rickettsiae, and evaluating the presence of rickettsial DNA in ticks collected from equids and the surrounding environment in the municipalities of Uruaçu and Porangatu, located in the northern region of the state. A total of 1156 equid serum samples provided by the Goiás Agricultural Defense Agency (Agrodefesa) were analyzed for antibodies against 4 antig...
Vychodilova L, Plasil M, Futas J, Kopecka A, Molinkova D, Wijacki T, Jahn P, Knoll A, Horin P.Although the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) has been repeatedly associated with susceptibility to equine sarcoid, a disease associated with bovine papillomavirus infection, the role of the MHC in the mechanisms of the disease is not fully understood. The objectives of our work were to analyze associations between polymorphic markers of the MHC genomic subregions and of the Natural Killer Complex (NKC) genomic region and the presence of sarcoid in Arabian horses. Microsatellite loci located in the MHC class I, II and III subregions and two MHC class II genes (DRA, DQA1), along with a se...
Al-Hammadi MA.Equine papillomavirus type 1 (EcPV-1) causes cutaneous papillomatosis in horses, which is characterized by benign, proliferative epithelial lesions. Despite its global presence, the prevalence and characterization of EcPV-1 in Arabian horses in Saudi Arabia have not been previously reported. Unassigned: This study is the first to identify and comprehensively analyze EcPV-1 in four Arabian horses presenting with multiple raised, verrucous lesions around the muzzle and lips. Unassigned: This study involved clinical examination, skin biopsy collection, histopathological examination, and molecular...
Battistin L, Moya LFA, Ferreira LVO, Braz AMM, Carvalho M, Golim MA, Amorim RM.Cell-based therapy using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) shows promise for treating several diseases due to their anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties. To enhance the therapeutic potential of MSCs, in vitro priming strategies have been explored. Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound derived from cannabis, may influence MSC proliferation, differentiation, and immunomodulatory properties. This study evaluates the immunomodulatory potential of equine adipose tissue-derived MSCs (EqAT-MSCs) primed with a CBD-rich cannabis extract. EqAT-MSCs (P3) were primed with CBD concentrati...
Ji Y, Xu D, Si W, Zhang Y, Khan MZ, Zhao X, Liu W.The present study investigated the host cell response to EHV-8 infection in rabbit kidney (RK-13) cells through transcriptomic and proteomic approaches. At 24 h post-infection, a total of 2118 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, with 1338 upregulated and 780 downregulated. At 48 h, 7388 DEGs were detected, with 4342 upregulated and 3046 downregulated genes. Proteomic analysis revealed 932 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) at 24 h (364 upregulated and 568 downregulated) and 3866 DEPs at 48 h (2285 upregulated and 1581 downregulated). Of these, 237 upregulated and 336 d...
Samie KA, Kowalewski MP, Schuler G, Gastal GDA, Bollwein H, Scarlet D.In horses, the mechanisms behind ovarian follicle growth and oocyte maturation remain largely unknown. In other species, oocyte-secreted factors growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF9) and bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) have been related to the acquisition of developmental competence and to interaction with granulosa cells for the regulation of follicle development. This study assessed the expression and localization of GDF9 in the equine ovary, and its possible relationship with granulosa cell function. Results: Using custom-made antibodies, GDF9 protein was localized in oocytes from th...
Sun YF, Han ZX, Yao XK, Meng J, Ren WL, Wang CK, Yuan XX, Zeng YQ, Wang YF, Sun ZW, Wang JW.: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different stages of training on the intestinal microbial abundance of Yili horses. : Ten Yili horses, all aged 2 years old and weighing 305 ± 20 kg, were selected and divided into a training group and an untrained group. The training group performed riding training 6 days a week, and the untrained group moved freely in the activity circle every day. Fecal samples were collected on days 30 and 60, and the intestinal microorganisms were detected and analyzed using metagenomics. : Compared with the 30-day untrained group, the relative abu...
Giercuszkiewicz-Hecold B, Pajuelo D, Steczkiewicz Z, Cywinska A, Marycz K.Astaxanthin, a strong antioxidant carotenoid, has shown promising features in mitigating inflammation and oxidative stress and so that has been considered as a supplement for high-performance animals. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of astaxanthin on oxidative stress, inflammation, and mitochondrial health in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) isolated from Arabian racehorses. Horse-derived peripheral blood mononuclear cells exposed to hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) presented increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and overexpression of pro-inflammatory cytoki...
Cheung HW, Wong KS, Cheng PCF, Tsang CYN, Farrington AF, Wan TSM, Ho ENM.Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) continue to be a significant threat to the integrity of human and equine sports. Besides conventional direct testing, monitoring the biomarkers associated with the effects of ESAs may provide a complementary approach via indirect detection to enhance doping control. In this study, we applied RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) to discover blood RNA biomarkers in Thoroughbred horses after administration with a long-acting form of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO), methoxy polyethylene glycol epoetin beta, Mircera®. A single subcutaneous administration of Mi...
Yang G, Chen Y, Chen K, Hu Z, Li J, Wang J, Guo W, Wang X, Du C.Equine piroplasmosis (EP), caused by Theileria equi (T. equi) and Babesia caballi (B. caballi), is a tick-borne disease with significant economic impacts on the equine industry. Theileria haneyi (T. haneyi), a newly identified pathogen of EP, is globally distributed but has not been reported in China, where its epidemiological patterns remain undefined. Objective: To develop diagnostic techniques for T. haneyi and to assess its prevalence and risk factors in China. Methods: Assay development and cross sectional survey. Methods: A nested PCR (nPCR) nucleic acid diagnostic technique targeting th...
Pawlina-Tyszko K, Semik-Gurgul E, Podstawski P, Herc W, Witkowski M, Ropka-Molik K.Alterations in the genes involved in the creation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) were observed in our earlier transcriptome studies of sarcoids and their cell culture model. For a complete characterization of the underlying molecular pathways, it is imperative to comprehend the involvement of ECM modifications in the oncogenic transformation of sarcoid fibroblasts. Thus, the aim of this investigation was to describe the expression patterns of a set of genes that are essential for the rearrangements of the extracellular matrix, namely collagen genes, and elucidate possible mechanisms underly...
Li Y, Lan Y.The gut microbial importance and its crucial roles in host digestion, immunity, and metabolism have received widely attention. Horses, especially indigenous varieties such as Mongolian horses (MGH) and Guizhou horses (GZH), have not received sufficient attention, and the characteristics of their gut microbiota are still unclear. For this purpose, we collected faecal samples from eight MGH and eight GZH to compare their gut microbial differences using amplicon sequencing. The results of alpha diversity analysis indicated that the gut bacterial diversity and gut fungal abundance in GZH were sign...
Ding W, Gong W, Bou T, Shi L, Lin Y, Wu H, Dugarjaviin M, Bai D.Muscle fibers, as the fundamental units of muscle tissue, play a crucial role in determining skeletal muscle function through their growth, development, and composition. To investigate changes in muscle fiber types and their regulatory mechanisms in Mongolian horses (MG), Xilingol horses (XL), and Grassland-Thoroughbreds (CY), we conducted histological and bioinformatic analyses on the gluteus medius muscle of these three horse breeds. Immunofluorescence analysis revealed that Grassland-Thoroughbreds had the highest proportion of fast-twitch muscle fibers at 78.63%, while Mongolian horses had ...
Kushida C, Usui T, Tamura N, Kasashima Y, Sato K, Arai K.This study evaluated the effects of cell adhesion substrates that lead to the generation of equine-induced pluripotent stem cells (eiPSC) from embryonic skin fibroblasts by lipofection of plasmid vectors expressing five reprogramming factors. The reprogramming efficiency of cells induced on the E8 fragment of laminin-511 (eiPSC-511) was higher than that on Geltrex containing laminin-111 as a major laminin (eiPSC-111), and supplementation with a cocktail of small molecular compounds increased the number of iPSC colonies on both substrates. In the cell proliferation assay, eiPSC-511 showed highe...
Baatar T, Song D, Weng Y, Wang G, Jin L, Guo R, Li B, Dugarjaviin M.The epigenetic regulation of gene expression through the covalent modification of histones is crucial for developing germline cells. To study the regulatory role of alternative splicing (AS) of euchromatic histone lysine methyltransferase 2 (EHMT2/G9A) in spermatogenesis in Mongolian horses, this study first examines the localization of the EHMT2 gene in testicular support cells and then predicts the higher-order structures of sequences with and without AS. Two types of lentiviral vectors for overexpression were subsequently constructed for the EHMT2 gene, one with AS and one without, to infec...
Lindenberg F, Krych L, Fielden J, Kot W, Frøkiær H, van Galen G, Nielsen DS, Hansen AK.Billions of bacteria inhabit the gastrointestinal tract. Immune-microbial cross talk is responsible for immunological homeostasis, and symbiotic microbial species induce regulatory immunity, which helps to control the inflammation levels. In this study we aimed to identify species within the equine intestinal microbiota with the potential to induce regulatory immunity. These could be future targets for preventing or treating low-grade chronic inflammation occurring as a result of intestinal microbial changes and disruption of the homeostasis. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was performed on ...
Wagner B, Freer H.The detection and quantification of equine cytokines has been hampered by the lack of antibodies for many years. With the development of antibody pairs for equine cytokines during the past years, the quantification of these essential regulators of the immune response became possible. After being successfully tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), three of these anti-cytokine reagents were used here to establish the first cytokine multiplex assay for equine IL-4, IL-10 and IFN-alpha. A fluorescent bead-based system was used as matrix for this assay that allows the simultaneous de...
Kappmeyer LS, Thiagarajan M, Herndon DR, Ramsay JD, Caler E, Djikeng A, Gillespie JJ, Lau AO, Roalson EH, Silva JC, Silva MG, Suarez CE, Ueti MW....Transmission of arthropod-borne apicomplexan parasites that cause disease and result in death or persistent infection represents a major challenge to global human and animal health. First described in 1901 as Piroplasma equi, this re-emergent apicomplexan parasite was renamed Babesia equi and subsequently Theileria equi, reflecting an uncertain taxonomy. Understanding mechanisms by which apicomplexan parasites evade immune or chemotherapeutic elimination is required for development of effective vaccines or chemotherapeutics. The continued risk of transmission of T. equi from clinically silent,...
Scheel TK, Kapoor A, Nishiuchi E, Brock KV, Yu Y, Andrus L, Gu M, Renshaw RW, Dubovi EJ, McDonough SP, Van de Walle GR, Lipkin WI, Divers TJ....Nonprimate hepacivirus (NPHV) is the closest known relative of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and its study could enrich our understanding of HCV evolution, immunity, and pathogenesis. High seropositivity is found in horses worldwide with ∼ 3% viremic. NPHV natural history and molecular virology remain largely unexplored, however. Here, we show that NPHV, like HCV, can cause persistent infection for over a decade, with high titers and negative strand RNA in the liver. NPHV is a near-universal contaminant of commercial horse sera for cell culture. The complete NPHV 3'-UTR was determined and consists...
Shin EK, Perryman LE, Meek K.The equine SCID defect is more severe than its murine counterpart in that SCID foals are incapable of forming either coding or signal joints, whereas SCID mice manifest normal signal joint formation. To determine the basis of this difference and whether DNA-dependent kinase, catalytic subunit (DNA-PK(CS)), is involved in signal joint formation, equine DNA-PK(CS) transcripts were cloned and sequenced from normal and SCID cell lines. In the mutant allele, a frame-shift mutation truncates the protein N terminal of the domain with homology to the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase family resulting in c...
von Bargen K, Haas A.The soil actinomycete Rhodococcus equi is a pulmonary pathogen of young horses and AIDS patients. As a facultative intracellular bacterium, R. equi survives and multiplies in macrophages and establishes its specific niche inside the host cell. Recent research into chromosomal virulence factors and into the role of virulence plasmids in infection and host tropism has presented novel aspects of R. equi infection biology and pathogenicity. This review will focus on new findings in R. equi biology, the trafficking of R. equi-containing vacuoles inside host cells, factors involved in virulence and ...
Kubickova S, Cernohorska H, Musilova P, Rubes J.Laser microbeam microdissection and laser pressure catapulting procedure were used for the construction of chromosome-specific painting probes, arm-specific probes and probes for chromosomal subfragments. We report on a method for generation of fluorescence in-situ hybridization probes from laser dissected chromosomes of farm animals. So far, using the described method, a set of chromosome-specific painting probes has been obtained for all porcine chromosomes, 17 chromosomes of cattle and selected equine chromosomes. It is concluded that the laser technology appears to be a useful and powerful...
Orlando L, Ginolhac A, Raghavan M, Vilstrup J, Rasmussen M, Magnussen K, Steinmann KE, Kapranov P, Thompson JF, Zazula G, Froese D, Moltke I....Second-generation sequencing platforms have revolutionized the field of ancient DNA, opening access to complete genomes of past individuals and extinct species. However, these platforms are dependent on library construction and amplification steps that may result in sequences that do not reflect the original DNA template composition. This is particularly true for ancient DNA, where templates have undergone extensive damage post-mortem. Here, we report the results of the first "true single molecule sequencing" of ancient DNA. We generated 115.9 Mb and 76.9 Mb of DNA sequences from a permafrost-...
Bhoora R, Franssen L, Oosthuizen MC, Guthrie AJ, Zweygarth E, Penzhorn BL, Jongejan F, Collins NE.A molecular epidemiological survey of the protozoal parasites that cause equine piroplasmosis was conducted using samples collected from horses and zebra from different geographical locations in South Africa. A total of 488 samples were tested for the presence of Theileria equi and/or Babesia caballi using the reverse line blot hybridization assay. Ten percent of the samples hybridized to the Theileria/Babesia genus-specific probe and not to the B. caballi or T. equi species-specific probes, suggesting the presence of a novel species or genotype. The small subunit of rRNA gene (18S; approximat...
Schenkman KA, Marble DR, Burns DH, Feigl EO.Multiwavelength optical spectroscopy was used to determine the oxygen-binding characteristics for equine myoglobin. Oxygen-binding relationships as a function of oxygen tension were determined for temperatures of 10, 25, 35, 37, and 40 degrees C, at pH 7.0. In addition, dissociation curves were determined at 37 degrees C for pH 6.5, 7.0, and 7.5. Equilibration was achieved with a myoglobin solution, at the desired temperature and pH, and 16 oxygen-nitrogen gas mixtures of known oxygen fraction. Correction for the inevitable presence of metmyoglobin was made by using a three-component least squ...
Peffers MJ, Thorpe CT, Collins JA, Eong R, Wei TK, Screen HR, Clegg PD.Energy storing tendons, such as the human Achilles and equine superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT), are highly prone to injury, the incidence of which increases with aging. The cellular and molecular mechanisms that result in increased injury in aged tendons are not well established but are thought to result in altered matrix turnover. However, little attempt has been made to fully characterize the tendon proteome nor determine how the abundance of specific tendon proteins changes with aging and/or injury. The aim of this study was, therefore, to assess the protein profile of normal SDFTs ...
Xu S, Luosang J, Hua S, He J, Ciren A, Wang W, Tong X, Liang Y, Wang J, Zheng X.To investigate genetic mechanisms of high altitude adaptations of animals living in the Tibetan Plateau, three mitochondrial genomes (mt-genome) of Tibetan horses living in Naqu (4,500 m) of Tibetan, Zhongdian (3,300 m) and Deqin (3,100 m) of Yunnan province were sequenced. The structures and lengths of these three mt-genomes are similar to the Cheju horse, which is related to Tibetan horses, but little shorter than the Swedish horse. The pair-wise identity of these three horses on nucleotide level is more than 99.3%. When the gene encoding the mitochondrial protein of Tibetan horses was analy...
Alhassan A, Pumidonming W, Okamura M, Hirata H, Battsetseg B, Fujisaki K, Yokoyama N, Igarashi I.With the aim of developing more simple diagnostic alternatives, a differential single-round and multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was designed for the simultaneous detection of Babesia caballi and Babesia equi, by targeting 18S ribosomal RNA genes. The multiplex PCR amplified DNA fragments of 540 and 392 bp from B. caballi and B. equi, respectively, in one reaction. The PCR method evaluated on 39 blood samples collected from domestic horses in Mongolia yielded similar results to those obtained from confirmative PCR methods that had been established earlier. Thus, the single-roun...
Taylor SE, Vaughan-Thomas A, Clements DN, Pinchbeck G, Macrory LC, Smith RK, Clegg PD.There is a paucity of data regarding molecular markers that identify the phenotype of the tendon cell. This study aims to quantify gene expression markers that distinguish between tendon fibroblasts and other mesenchymal cells which may be used to investigate tenogenesis. Methods: Expression levels for 12 genes representative of musculoskeletal tissues, including the proposed tendon progenitor marker scleraxis, relative to validated reference genes, were evaluated in matched samples of equine tendon (harvested from the superficial digital flexor tendon), cartilage and bone using quantitative P...
Takai S, Koike K, Ohbushi S, Izumi C, Tsubaki S.Antigens of Rhodococcus equi were analyzed by immunoblotting with naturally infected foal sera. Immunoblots of whole-cell antigen preparations of clinical isolates of R. equi revealed that major protein bands with molecular masses of 15 to 17 kDa were present in all clinical isolates tested and all isolates virulent for mice. In contrast, the 15- to 17-kDa antigens were not identified by immunoblotting in ATCC 6939, a type strain of R. equi that was avirulent for mice. Whole-cell antigens of 102 environmental isolates were investigated by immunoblotting and the mouse pathogenicity test. Twenty...
Rushlow K, Olsen K, Stiegler G, Payne SL, Montelaro RC, Issel CJ.The nucleotide sequence of the envelope (env) gene region of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), a member of the lentivirus subfamily of retroviruses, has been determined from a clone of integrated proviral DNA for which the gag and pol sequences have been reported previously. The env gene is 859 codons in length and the sequence reported here is consistent with the published biochemical properties of EIAV glycoproteins. The env gene region of EIAV shares considerable structural similarities but negligible sequence homologies with the env genes of other members of the lentivirus subfamily, ...
Bellone RR, Holl H, Setaluri V, Devi S, Maddodi N, Archer S, Sandmeyer L, Ludwig A, Foerster D, Pruvost M, Reissmann M, Bortfeldt R, Adelson DL....Leopard complex spotting is a group of white spotting patterns in horses caused by an incompletely dominant gene (LP) where homozygotes (LP/LP) are also affected with congenital stationary night blindness. Previous studies implicated Transient Receptor Potential Cation Channel, Subfamily M, Member 1 (TRPM1) as the best candidate gene for both CSNB and LP. RNA-Seq data pinpointed a 1378 bp insertion in intron 1 of TRPM1 as the potential cause. This insertion, a long terminal repeat (LTR) of an endogenous retrovirus, was completely associated with LP, testing 511 horses (χ(2)=1022.00, p<<...
Nara PL, Garrity RR, Goudsmit J.The production of immunoglobulin capable of neutralizing the infectivity of a virus represents one of the most remarkable molecular accomplishments of the host's available immune defenses. It should be no surprise that a virus that has existed in the parenchyma of the immune system has evolved as an equally dynamic molecule (i.e., viral envelope) for survival. Neutralizing immunoglobulin (Ig) can best serve the host under conditions where the invading pathogen requires a well-defined cell-free state for establishing an infection or transmission. Evidence for a controlling and therefore protect...
Powers AM, Oberste MS, Brault AC, Rico-Hesse R, Schmura SM, Smith JF, Kang W, Sweeney WP, Weaver SC.Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) epidemics and equine epizootics occurred periodically in the Americas from the 1920s until the early 1970s, when the causative viruses, subtypes IAB and IC, were postulated to have become extinct. Recent outbreaks in Columbia and Venezuela have renewed interest in the source of epidemic/epizootic viruses and their mechanism of interepizootic maintenance. We performed phylogenetic analyses of VEE virus isolates spanning the entire temporal and geographic range of strains available, using 857-nucleotide reverse transcription-PCR products including the E3 and ...
Mammalian centromeres are associated with highly repetitive DNA (satellite DNA), which has so far hindered molecular analysis of this chromatin domain. Centromeres are epigenetically specified, and binding of the CENPA protein is their main determinant. In previous work, we described the first example of a natural satellite-free centromere on Chromosome 11. Here, we investigated the satellite-free centromeres of by using ChIP-seq with anti-CENPA antibodies. We identified an extraordinarily high number of centromeres lacking satellite DNA (16 of 31). All of them lay in LINE- and AT-rich regio...
Shehu-Xhilaga M, Ablan S, Demirov DG, Chen C, Montelaro RC, Freed EO.The Gag proteins of a number of different retroviruses contain late or L domains that promote the release of virions from the plasma membrane. Three types of L domains have been identified to date: Pro-Thr-Ala-Pro (PTAP), Pro-Pro-X-Tyr, and Tyr-Pro-Asp-Leu. It has previously been demonstrated that overexpression of the N-terminal, E2-like domain of the endosomal sorting factor TSG101 (TSG-5') inhibits human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) release but does not affect the release of the PPPY-containing retrovirus murine leukemia virus (MLV), whereas overexpression of the C-terminal portion...
Evans SV, Brayer GD.The three-dimensional structure of horse heart metmyoglobin has been refined to a final R-factor of 15.5% for all observed data in the 6.0 to 1.9 A resolution range. The final model consists of 1242 non-hydrogen protein atoms, 154 water molecules and one sulfate ion. This structure has nearly ideal bonding and bond angle geometry. A Luzzati plot of the variation in R-factor with resolution yields an estimated mean co-ordinate error of 0.18 A. An extensive analysis of the pattern of hydrogen bonds formed in horse heart metmyoglobin has been completed. Over 80% of the polypeptide chain is involv...
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...
Ghosh S, Qu Z, Das PJ, Fang E, Juras R, Cothran EG, McDonell S, Kenney DG, Lear TL, Adelson DL, Chowdhary BP, Raudsepp T.We constructed a 400K WG tiling oligoarray for the horse and applied it for the discovery of copy number variations (CNVs) in 38 normal horses of 16 diverse breeds, and the Przewalski horse. Probes on the array represented 18,763 autosomal and X-linked genes, and intergenic, sub-telomeric and chrY sequences. We identified 258 CNV regions (CNVRs) across all autosomes, chrX and chrUn, but not in chrY. CNVs comprised 1.3% of the horse genome with chr12 being most enriched. American Miniature horses had the highest and American Quarter Horses the lowest number of CNVs in relation to Thoroughbred r...
Tirosh-Levy S, Gottlieb Y, Fry LM, Knowles DP, Steinman A.Equine piroplasmosis (EP), caused by the hemoparasites , , and , is an important tick-borne disease of equines that is prevalent in most parts of the world. Infection may affect animal welfare and has economic impacts related to limitations in horse transport between endemic and non-endemic regions, reduced performance of sport horses and treatment costs. Here, we analyzed the epidemiological, serological, and molecular diagnostic data published in the last 20 years, and all DNA sequences submitted to GenBank database, to describe the current global prevalence of these parasites. We demonstrat...
Peffers M, Liu X, Clegg P.Age is an important factor in the development of osteoarthritis. Microarray studies provide insight into cartilage aging but do not reveal the full transcriptomic phenotype of chondrocytes such as small noncoding RNAs, pseudogenes, and microRNAs. RNA-Seq is a powerful technique for the interrogation of large numbers of transcripts including nonprotein coding RNAs. The aim of the study was to characterise molecular mechanisms associated with age-related changes in gene signatures. Methods: RNA for gene expression analysis using RNA-Seq and real-time PCR analysis was isolated from macroscopicall...
The Journal of hereditySeptember 1, 1991
Volume 82, Issue 5 369-377 doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.jhered.a111106
Wichman HA, Payne CT, Ryder OA, Hamilton MJ, Maltbie M, Baker RJ.We describe a molecular model for rapid chromosomal evolution that proposes tandemly repeated DNA sequences as a driving force. A prediction of this model is that when extensive rearrangements of euchromatin have been facilitated by heterochromatin, genomes will be characterized by tandemly repeated sequences that have actively changed chromosomal fields by intragenomic movement. Alternatively, it is proposed that in conservative chromosomal lineage each class of tandemly repeated sequences will be restricted to a specific chromosomal field. To provide baseline data to test this model we exami...
Meijer WG, Prescott JF.Rhodococcus equi is an important cause of subacute or chronic abscessating bronchopneumonia of foals up to 3-5 months of age. It shares the lipid-rich cell wall envelope characteristic of the mycolata, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as well as the ability of pathogenic members of this group to survive within macrophages. The possession of a large virulence plasmid in isolates recovered from pneumonic foals is crucial for virulence. The plasmid contains an 27 kb pathogenicity island (PI) that encodes seven related virulence-associated proteins (Vaps), including the immunodominant surface...
Walther B, Monecke S, Ruscher C, Friedrich AW, Ehricht R, Slickers P, Soba A, Wleklinski CG, Wieler LH, Lübke-Becker A.Despite the increasing importance of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in veterinary medicine, knowledge about the epidemiology of the pathogen in horses is still poor. The phylogenetic relationship of strains of human and equine origins has been addressed before, usually by analyzing results of common standard classification methods for MRSA. This work intends to go beyond the baseline of typing procedures in order to comparatively characterize equine and human MRSA strains with similar phylogenetic backgrounds. In addition to multilocus sequence typing, pulsed-field gel elec...
