Species comparison in horses involves examining the physiological, anatomical, and behavioral differences and similarities between horses and other animal species. This area of study can provide insights into the evolutionary adaptations and ecological roles of horses. Researchers often focus on aspects such as digestive systems, locomotion, sensory capabilities, and social structures to understand how horses have evolved to meet their environmental and survival needs. Comparative studies may also explore genetic differences and similarities, contributing to a broader understanding of species evolution and adaptation. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research and scholarly articles that analyze various aspects of species comparison involving horses, highlighting significant findings and methodologies used in the field.
Marcelino I, Monti G, Cornelissen P, Bassingthwaighte E, Het Lam J, van der Merwe D, van der Poel WHM.Trace minerals are essential for animal health but can also, together with heavy metals, have a negative impact, making their monitoring crucial to assess animal health. These elements were examined through a long-term post-mortem monitoring system based on routine liver sampling for Heck cattle, Konik horses and red deer in place at the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve in the Netherlands, using data from this system to determine reference intervals and investigate trends in liver trace element concentrations. Throughout the monitoring programme, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry ...
Shroff K, Underwood C, Stefanovski D, Hopster K, Slack J.To determine transthoracic impedance (TTI) in adult horses using an exponential biphasic defibrillator and investigate patient and technique factors influencing TTI. Unassigned: A randomized crossover design with 2 phases was used. Phase 1: TTI was measured in dorsal and lateral recumbency, with and without manual pressure on the electrodes in deceased horses immediately following euthanasia. Phase 2: TTI was measured in dorsal recumbency during inspiration and expiration using anesthetized live horses sourced from 2 terminal studies. Mixed-effects linear regression modeling was performed to a...
Bosman LM, Logan MG, Miszewski A, Pepper MS.Translational regenerative medicine, integrating human and veterinary approaches within the "One Health" framework, increasingly uses horses as models for human musculoskeletal conditions due to shared anatomical and functional features. Osteoarthritis and tendon disorders affect both species, often resulting from high-impact or repetitive strain activities. Regenerative medicine offers therapeutic opportunities by promoting tissue repair and modulating inflammation. Cellular orthobiologics such as mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) show promise for treating osteoarthritis and tendon injuri...
Schmitz M, Neugebauer E, Full F, Conn KL.Comparative transcriptomics offers a powerful approach to elucidate host-virus interactions across related pathogens, yet systematic evaluations across species-matched cellular systems remain limited. We performed a cross-species RNA sequencing analysis of respective species' cells infected with three alphaherpesviruses-herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (BHV-1), and equid alphaherpesvirus 1 (EHV-1)-to dissect conserved and virus-specific transcriptional responses. We show that certain orthologous genes and orthologous pathways are differentially regulated upon infection...
Konstantinović N, Gotić J, Baban M, Csik G, Listeš E, Gagović E, Jurković Žilić D, Arežina I, Šubara G, Čulina FE, Delić N, Višal D....Hemotropic mycoplasmas (hemoplasmas) are uncultivable, cell wall-less bacteria that parasitizeon the surface of red blood cells of mammals, potentially causing anemia and other systemic signs. While widely distributed among domestic and wild animals, their occurrence in equids remains poorly understood, and no species has been identified as host-specific to horses or donkeys. This study presents the first systematic survey of hemoplasmas in equids from southeastern Europe and only the second molecularly confirmed case in horses in Europe. A total of 843 equids (817 horses and 26 donkeys) from ...
Goodchild OA, Rosen SN, Mennecart B, Meng J, Tissier J.Perissodactyla, or odd-toed ungulates, are represented today by 16 species of rhinoceroses, tapirs, and horses. Perissodactyls were much more diverse in the past, having a rich fossil record spanning from the earliest Eocene (~56 Ma) to recent, including a myriad of extinct lineages. Despite over a century of study, the inter-relationships of some extinct perissodactyl families remain poorly resolved. New morphological characters are needed to help solve this issue. Recent studies suggest that the ear region, ., the petrosal and the bony labyrinth of the inner ear, is a valuable source of morp...
Vallejo-Soto P, Dorado J, Herrera-García R, Álvarez-Delgado C, Gómez-Laguna J, Santiago Á, Manrique M, González Ariza A, León Jurado JM....Assisted reproductive techniques are often extrapolated from horses to donkeys, despite poorer fertility outcomes in jennies. This issue has been attributed to unknown uterine species-specific differences. This study compared, through histomorphometry, the endometrium of jennies and mares. Endometrial biopsies (N = 12) were taken from reproductively sound jennies (n = 6) and mares (n = 6) in estrus. Histomorphometric analysis evaluated luminal (LE, µm) and glandular epithelium height (GE, µm), glandular lumen diameter (LD, µm), glandular area (GA, µm), the number of glands (#G), and glandu...
To date, there is extensive scientific evidence affirming that physical exercise plays a fundamental role in both the prevention and treatment of various pathological conditions in humans as well as in animals. It is understood that the advantages of movement and exercise have a multifactorial origin and they depend on a category of bioactive molecules vehicolated by extracellular microvesicles known as exosomes. The exosomes act as potential delivery systems for messages within the organism. These findings have drawn significant attention, leading researchers to further investigate the role o...
Klass LG, Krücken J, Mbedi S, Sparmann S, Schenk T, Andreotti S, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G.Mixed strongyle infections represent the most prevalent equine parasitosis and can result in life-threatening disease, especially in young horses. Species involvement and pathogenesis of this parasitosis are poorly understood, and data on foals and broodmares are notably lacking. Methods: In a longitudinal study undertaken in 2022 in Germany, individual faecal samples (n = 497) and metadata were collected for naturally infected foals and broodmares (n = 48) kept under conventional husbandry conditions. Nematode infections were detected coproscopically via the Mini-FLOTAC method. In a s...
Zhang Y, Zhang M, Zhao Z, Peng Y, Deng F, Jiang H, Zhang M, Song B, Kim JK, Pan JH, Chai J, Li Y.Unique skin microbial communities have been shaped by the harsh climatic conditions in high-altitude areas, such as intense ultraviolet radiation and low oxygen concentration. However, it is unknown whether high altitude contributes to shaping common microbiota inhabiting the skin across different mammals. The skin microbial communities of humans and horses living in high-altitude (Tibetan) and low-altitude areas were analyzed using full-length 16S rRNA sequencing technology. Alpha diversity differed between high- and low-altitude groups ( < 0.01). Skin microbial community composition also dif...
Bazan L, Argibay HD, Borges-Silva W, Pita Gondim LF, Dos Santos Mattos TA, Santana JO, da Silva EM, Begon M, Khalil H, Costa F, de Oliveira Carneiro I.Toxoplasma gondii is a globally neglected zoonotic parasite, particularly prevalent in socioeconomically vulnerable areas. Various animal species serve as reservoirs for T. gondii across different regions, including domestic cats, livestock, and a variety of wild and synanthropic animals. In urban areas, especially informal settlements, the close coexistence of humans, domestic animals, and wildlife may influence local transmission dynamics. This study evaluated the seroprevalence and associated risk factors for T. gondii infection in domestic and synanthropic animals from two low-income neigh...
Ramírez-Juidias E, Díaz de la Serna-Moreno Á, Delgado-Pertíñez M.Rangeland degradation poses a serious challenge for the sustainable management of free-ranging livestock in Mediterranean wetlands. In National Park, Spain, the endangered horse depends exclusively on natural forage, making it essential to monitor vegetation productivity and grazing suitability under increasing climate variability. This study presents a satellite-based assessment of rangeland carrying capacity to support the adaptive management of this iconic breed. A six-year time series (2015-2020) of 1242 images from Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS and Sentinel-2 (L1C/L2A) was processed using ILWIS an...
De Ridder T, Aerts P, MacLaren JA.Equid evolution is characterized by a high diversity of extinct species and morphologies, whereas extant equids share a superficially similar, monodactyl morphology. This inferred musculoskeletal similarity of modern equid limbs remains unexplored, and it is often assumed that domestic horse limbs are representative for wild equids (e.g., zebras, onagers, etc.). Our aim was to quantitatively describe the muscle architecture and arrangement of all forelimb muscles in extant wild Equus species to test this assumption, and investigate any differences between the species. We hypothesized that ther...
: isolates from humans and horses of the equine-associated clonal complexes (CCs) CC1 and CC1660 were comparatively investigated for their genomic relationships. : A total of 91 isolates (64 human, 27 equine) were subjected to whole-genome sequencing (WGS), sequence analysis, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. : WGS confirmed 75 CC1 and 16 CC1660 isolates, comprising nine sequence types (STs) in CC1 and four STs in CC1660. Ten types were present in CC1 and five in CC1660. In the gene of three CC1 isolates, a 285 bp deletion was detected, and a nucleotide deletion causing a premature...
Klass LG, Diekmann I, Andreotti S, Mbedi S, Sparmann S, Schenk T, Anderson HP, Bellaw J, Nielsen MK, Krücken J, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G.Strongyles, especially non-migratory Strongylidae, are the most common equine gut parasites, and typically occur in mixed infections with 10 - 20 species per host. Current knowledge on strongyle species prevalence and within-host tropism is sparse. Herein species composition of mixed strongyle infections of 12 naturally infected untreated young horses, based on strongyle eggs extracted from faeces, cultured third stage larva and luminal worms collected from ventral and dorsal colon was examined. Species were identified using a cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) metabarcoding approach allowing differ...
Krücken J, Diekmann I, Andreotti S, Bredtmann CM, Mbedi S, Sparmann S, Schmidt JS, de Almeida Borges F, de Freitas MG, Sallé G, Hofer H....Equines are parasitized by complex communities of Strongylidae (Nematoda) comprising multi-species infections. Currently, Cyathostominae are most prevalent, while Strongylus species are only rarely detected. Since eggs and, in most cases, infective larvae cannot be differentiated to species level, except for Strongylus spp., species-specific knowledge of the pathology, epidemiology and ecology of these parasitic nematodes is limited. Reference sequence data for several cyathostomin species are limited or missing. Deep amplicon sequencing of internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS-2) regions of nema...
Weingarten A, Häusler M, Serangeli J, Verheijen I, Reiter E, Radzevičiūtė R, Stoessel A, Krause J, Spyrou MA, Conard NJ, Nieselt K, Posth C.Deep-time palaeogenomics offers rare insights into macroevolutionary events for both extant and extinct species. Aside from a Middle Pleistocene genome from North American permafrost (780-560 ka) and a number of Late Pleistocene specimens, most ancient horse DNA studies have focused on tracing the origins of domestication and subsequent periods. Here we present mitochondrial genomes from two Equus mosbachensis specimens from Schöningen, Germany, a Middle Pleistocene archaeological site complex with direct and repeated evidence of hominin-horse interactions on the shore of a palaeolake. Usin...
Kapusniak A, Lara NM, Hitchens PL, Bailey S, Nath L, Franklin S.Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used to enhance electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation in human medicine. In equine athletes, exercise-associated arrhythmias are common and linked to sudden cardiac death at rates higher than in humans. However, ECG interpretation in horses remains time-consuming and subjective, with the clinical relevance of mild rhythm disturbances often unclear. Objective: Evaluate the application of AI to ECG interpretation for arrhythmia detection, with emphasis on current and potential use in athletic species, particularly horses. Methods: About 17 studies we...
Vidal-Cardos R, Fàbrega E, Dalmau A.The sustainability of extensive livestock systems is compromised. It is necessary to enhance our understanding of the activity and grazing behavior of different livestock species (cows, horses, and sheep) sharing the same mountainous areas. Nowadays, the observation and analysis of animal activity is greatly facilitated by remote tracking technology, especially in zones with difficult access. In this article, we proved that commercial geolocation collars can provide meaningful data on animal activity, behavior, and distribution, which can be used to model daily distances, activity patterns, gr...
Lugo T, Myers S, Nguyen TA.In vitro models have revolutionized our understanding of biological pathways and mechanisms, offering a viable alternative to direct patient testing. However, there is a significant lack of models for different animals, particularly equine models. This study presents a novel primary cell culture extracted from a 3-year-old horse diagnosed with multisystemic eosinophilic epitheliotropic disease. Tissue samples were collected from lymph nodes at various locations. Growth curves of extracted primary cells were analyzed and the optimal conditions were assessed. Biomarkers, such as CD31, ZO-1, CD79...
Nissen SD, Bastrup JA, Haugaard SL, Marion-Knudsen R, Schneider M, Kjeldsen ST, Carstensen H, Hopster-Iversen C, Nattel S, Jepps TA, Buhl R.Horses and humans are among the few mammals susceptible to spontaneous atrial fibrillation (AF), both suffering from high recurrence rates after treatment. Treatment resistance is often attributed to progressive atrial remodeling, but current treatment options fail to effectively address this aspect. Here, we introduce a novel horse model of spontaneous AF to investigate the biological pathway changes in early stages of the disease. Through data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry on biopsies from the right and left atrium and left ventricular chamber of horses with early-stage persisten...
Zimmerman KL, Diehl KA.To determine if serum α2-macroglobulin (A2M) concentration varies based on donor species-canine or equine-and signalment. Methods: Serum A2M concentration ([A2M]) was measured in healthy dogs (n = 30) and horses (n = 31) using species-specific ELISAs. Results: Canine and equine [A2M] median (IQR; range) were 98.70 ng/mL (92.79 ng/mL; 34.33-696.18 ng/mL) and 557 000 ng/mL (437 900 ng/mL; 62 600-3 042 900 ng/mL), respectively. Equine [A2M] was significantly higher than canine [A2M]. Depending on the statistical analysis performed, sex had either no statistical (p...
Fennouh C, Mokrani D, Dahmani H, Salhi O, Ouchetati I, Nabi M, Aouina K, Chettih I, Ouchene N, Khelifi Touhami NA.Fasciolosis, a parasitic disease of ruminants, poses significant economic and animal-health challenges in Algeria. This study aimed to assess spatial, temporal, and species-specific patterns of fasciolosis prevalence across diverse agro-climatic zones and to estimate associated economic losses. Between 2013 and 2023, eight wilayas El-Tarf, Skikda, Jijel (Region I), Blida, Mila (Region II), and M'Sila, Medea, Laghouat (Region III) were surveyed. Systematic postmortem inspections of 1,569,392 animals (349,176 cattle; 982,669 sheep; 235,639 goats; 1,882 camels; 26 horses) were performed by qualif...
Mutillod C, Buisson E, Tatin L, Mahy G, Dufrêne M, Morvan N, Mesléard F, Dutoit T.The urgency of restoring ecosystems over vast areas has placed rewilding using wild herbivores at the forefront. However, few scientific studies address its effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning compared to more traditional conservation interventions with domestic herbivores. Equus ferus przewalskii horses introduced 30 years ago in the National Park of Cévennes, France - as a step of a conservation program of the species for its reintroduction in Mongolia - now occur as a semi-wild horse population, socially natural (i.e., management is based on natural selection). This introduct...
de Carvalho CN, Cunha PP, Belo J, Muñiz F, Baucon A, Cachão M, Figueiredo S, Buylaert JP, Galán JM, Belaústegui Z, Cáceres LM, Zhang Y....Multiple sources of evidence for the systematic use of coastal ecosystems and resources by Neanderthals are known. Fossil hominin footprints offer direct portraits of individual or social group presence and locomotor behavior, and interspecific interactions, in the coastal ecospace. Here we describe the first two hominin tracksites found in the southwestern most region of Europe. At Monte Clérigo, dated to 78 ± 5 ka, trackways of three individuals demonstrate how Neanderthals navigated dune landscapes. These behaviors suggest route planning, with dune systems serving as advantageous set...
Al-Ansari AS, Duggan V, Mulcahy G, Yin X, Brennan L, Cotter PD, Patel SH, O'Donovan CM, Crispie F, Walshe N.Faecal microbiome and serum metabolome have been studied in human medicine to provide a better understanding of metabolic derangements including diabetes; however, equivalent studies in equine medicine are limited. This was a case-control study conducted to identify differences in faecal microbiota composition and concurrent serum metabolite patterns between metabolically normal Connemara ponies and those with Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS). Thirty privately owned Connemara ponies (15 EMS and 15 controls) were included in the study. EMS was diagnosed by oral sugar test (OST). Blood samples we...
Mikaiel T, Waller A, Foote A, Cardwell JM, Mitchell J, Priestnall SL.Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (S. zooepidemicus) is a commensal opportunistic bacterium associated with outbreaks of equine respiratory disease alongside a diverse range of diseases in various species. The closely related Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi) is the causative agent of 'strangles', the most frequently diagnosed contagious equine disease. Despite differing clinical signs, the two subspecies share approximately 97 % DNA homology and respectively present serious equine health and welfare concerns. Currently there are few PCR assays targeting unique regions of...
Perzyna M, Grzędzicka J, Milczek-Haduch D, Dąbrowska I, Trela M, Pawliński B, Witkowska-Piłaszewicz O.Donkeys are routinely vaccinated with protocols developed for horses, yet species-specific data on their immune responses are limited. Objective: We hypothesized that donkeys exhibit robust T-cell-mediated immunity and regulatory adaptation after vaccination, comparable to horses. Methods: Thirty-six healthy, seronegative donkeys (34 mares, 2 stallions), aged 0.5-23 years (median 8 years), from two farms with similar housing and management conditions. Methods: Prospective study. Animals were selected based on clinical health assessment and confirmed seronegativity for tetanus and equine in...
Wen X, Ren H, He Q, Yi M, Ulaangerel T, Bou G.Horses and donkeys, as integral members of the equine family, exhibit distinct reproductive capabilities and characteristics. Seminal plasma, the fluid component of semen, contains a variety of proteins that play critical roles in sperm function and fertility. This study aimed to systematically compare the protein profiles in the seminal plasma of horses and donkeys, thereby elucidating the molecular differences between these two species. The study utilized 4D-DIA proteomics technology to analyze seminal plasma from horses and donkeys and further validated key proteins through Western blot. Ou...
Avison A, Physick-Sheard PW, Pyle WG.This paper reviews the myocardial substrate of horses relative to that of humans and discusses the utility of performance horses as a model of exercise-associated cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in athletes. The coronary circulation is similar between the species while coronary artery anomalies and myocardial bridging appear to only be associated with athletic mortality in human athletes and not in performance horses. There are subtle differences in the histology of the sinus and atrioventricular nodes, of unknown clinical significance, while the His bundle is more highly innervat...
Connor RJ, Kawaoka Y, Webster RG, Paulson JC.The receptor specificity of 56 H2 and H3 influenza virus isolates from various animal species has been determined to test the relevance of receptor specificity to the ecology of influenza virus. The results show that the receptor specificity of both H2 and H3 isolates evaluated for sialic acid linkage specificity and inhibition of hemagglutination by horse serum correlates with the species of origin, as postulated earlier for H3 strains based on a limited survey of five human, three avian, and one equine strain. Elucidation of the amino acid sequence of several human H2 receptor variants and a...
Hansen TF.Comparative studies tend to differ from optimality and functionality studies in how they treat adaptation. While the comparative approach focuses on the origin and change of traits, optimality studies assume that adaptations are maintained at an optimum by stabilizing selection. This paper presents a model of adaptive evolution on a macroevolutionary time scale that includes the maintenance of traits at adaptive optima by stabilizing selection as the dominant evolutionary force. Interspecific variation is treated as variation in the position of adaptive optima. The model illustrates how phylog...
Suzuki Y, Ito T, Suzuki T, Holland RE, Chambers TM, Kiso M, Ishida H, Kawaoka Y.The distribution of sialic acid (SA) species varies among animal species, but the biological role of this variation is largely unknown. Influenza viruses differ in their ability to recognize SA-galactose (Gal) linkages, depending on the animal hosts from which they are isolated. For example, human viruses preferentially recognize SA linked to Gal by the alpha2,6(SAalpha2,6Gal) linkage, while equine viruses favor SAalpha2,3Gal. However, whether a difference in relative abundance of specific SA species (N-acetylneuraminic acid [NeuAc] and N-glycolylneuraminic acid [NeuGc]) among different animal...
Stone KC, Mercer RR, Gehr P, Stockstill B, Crapo JD.Allometric studies have shown that lung volume, alveolar surface area, and diffusing capacity increase proportionally with body weight across a broad range of mammalian species. Changes in the number of cells and in average cell size and surface areas with increasing body weight have not been defined. We speculated that cell size is determined more by cell function than by species and body weight. To test this hypothesis, nine species ranging in size from shrew (2 to 3 g) to horse (510 kg) were studied. Random sites from the distal alveolar region of each species were analyzed using morphometr...
Bujacz A.Serum albumin first appeared in early vertebrates and is present in the plasma of all mammals. Its canonical structure supported by a conserved set of disulfide bridges is maintained in all mammalian serum albumins and any changes in sequence are highly correlated with evolution of the species. Previous structural investigations of mammalian serum albumins have only concentrated on human serum albumin (HSA), most likely as a consequence of crystallization and diffraction difficulties. Here, the crystal structures of serum albumins isolated from bovine, equine and leporine blood plasma are repo...
Furet JP, Firmesse O, Gourmelon M, Bridonneau C, Tap J, Mondot S, Doré J, Corthier G.Pollution of the environment by human and animal faecal pollution affects the safety of shellfish, drinking water and recreational beaches. To pinpoint the origin of contaminations, it is essential to define the differences between human microbiota and that of farm animals. A strategy based on real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays was therefore developed and applied to compare the composition of intestinal microbiota of these two groups. Primers were designed to quantify the 16S rRNA gene from dominant and subdominant bacterial groups. TaqMan probes were defined for the qPCR technique used ...
McCoy AM.Osteoarthritis (OA) is unquestionably one of the most important chronic health issues in humans, affecting millions of individuals and costing billions of dollars annually. Despite widespread awareness of this disease and its devastating impact, the pathogenesis of early OA is not completely understood, hampering the development of effective tools for early diagnosis and disease-modifying therapeutics. Most human tissue available for study is obtained at the time of joint replacement, when OA lesions are end stage and little can be concluded about the factors that played a role in disease deve...
Peripolli E, Munari DP, Silva MVGB, Lima ALF, Irgang R, Baldi F.This review presents a broader approach to the implementation and study of runs of homozygosity (ROH) in animal populations, focusing on identifying and characterizing ROH and their practical implications. ROH are continuous homozygous segments that are common in individuals and populations. The ability of these homozygous segments to give insight into a population's genetic events makes them a useful tool that can provide information about the demographic evolution of a population over time. Furthermore, ROH provide useful information about the genetic relatedness among individuals, helping t...
Groeneveld LF, Lenstra JA, Eding H, Toro MA, Scherf B, Pilling D, Negrini R, Finlay EK, Jianlin H, Groeneveld E, Weigend S.Domestication of livestock species and a long history of migrations, selection and adaptation have created an enormous variety of breeds. Conservation of these genetic resources relies on demographic characterization, recording of production environments and effective data management. In addition, molecular genetic studies allow a comparison of genetic diversity within and across breeds and a reconstruction of the history of breeds and ancestral populations. This has been summarized for cattle, yak, water buffalo, sheep, goats, camelids, pigs, horses, and chickens. Further progress is expected...
Science (New York, N.Y.)May 9, 2018
Volume 360, Issue 6396 eaar7711 doi: 10.1126/science.aar7711
de Barros Damgaard P, Martiniano R, Kamm J, Moreno-Mayar JV, Kroonen G, Peyrot M, Barjamovic G, Rasmussen S, Zacho C, Baimukhanov N, Zaibert V....The Yamnaya expansions from the western steppe into Europe and Asia during the Early Bronze Age (~3000 BCE) are believed to have brought with them Indo-European languages and possibly horse husbandry. We analyzed 74 ancient whole-genome sequences from across Inner Asia and Anatolia and show that the Botai people associated with the earliest horse husbandry derived from a hunter-gatherer population deeply diverged from the Yamnaya. Our results also suggest distinct migrations bringing West Eurasian ancestry into South Asia before and after, but not at the time of, Yamnaya culture. We find no ev...
Large multicenter clinical trials have led to two recently approved drugs for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF); yet, both of these therapies only slow disease progression and do not provide a definitive cure. Traditionally, preclinical trials have utilized mouse models of bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis-though several limitations prevent direct translation to human IPF. Spontaneous pulmonary fibrosis occurs in other animal species, including dogs, horses, donkeys, and cats. While the fibrotic lungs of these animals share many characteristics with lungs of patients w...
Seluanov A, Gladyshev VN, Vijg J, Gorbunova V.Cancer researchers have traditionally used the mouse and the rat as staple model organisms. These animals are very short-lived, reproduce rapidly and are highly prone to cancer. They have been very useful for modelling some human cancer types and testing experimental treatments; however, these cancer-prone species offer little for understanding the mechanisms of cancer resistance. Recent technological advances have expanded bestiary research to non-standard model organisms that possess unique traits of very high value to humans, such as cancer resistance and longevity. In recent years, several...
Li VL, He Y, Contrepois K, Liu H, Kim JT, Wiggenhorn AL, Tanzo JT, Tung AS, Lyu X, Zushin PH, Jansen RS, Michael B, Loh KY, Yang AC, Carl CS....Exercise confers protection against obesity, type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic diseases1-5. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms that mediate the metabolic benefits of physical activity remain unclear6. Here we show that exercise stimulates the production of N-lactoyl-phenylalanine (Lac-Phe), a blood-borne signalling metabolite that suppresses feeding and obesity. The biosynthesis of Lac-Phe from lactate and phenylalanine occurs in CNDP2+ cells, including macrophages, monocytes and other immune and epithelial cells localized to diverse organs. In diet-induced obese mice,...
Schubert M, Jónsson H, Chang D, Der Sarkissian C, Ermini L, Ginolhac A, Albrechtsen A, Dupanloup I, Foucal A, Petersen B, Fumagalli M, Raghavan M....The domestication of the horse ∼ 5.5 kya and the emergence of mounted riding, chariotry, and cavalry dramatically transformed human civilization. However, the genetics underlying horse domestication are difficult to reconstruct, given the near extinction of wild horses. We therefore sequenced two ancient horse genomes from Taymyr, Russia (at 7.4- and 24.3-fold coverage), both predating the earliest archeological evidence of domestication. We compared these genomes with genomes of domesticated horses and the wild Przewalski's horse and found genetic structure within Eurasia in the Late Pleist...
Furukawa S, Kuroda Y, Sugiyama A.The primary function of the placenta is to act as an interface between the dam and fetus. The anatomic structure of the chorioallantoic placenta in eutherian mammals varies between different animal species. The placental types in eutherian mammals are classified from various standpoints based on the gross shape, the histological structure of the materno-fetal interface, the type of materno-fetal interdigitation, etc. Particularly, the histological structure is generally considered one of the most useful and instructive classifications for functionally describing placental type. In this system,...
Ito S, Wakamatsu K.The color of hair, skin, and eyes in animals mainly depends on the quantity, quality, and distribution of the pigment melanin, which occurs in two types: black to brown eumelanin and yellow to reddish pheomelanin. Microanalytical methods to quantify the amounts of eumelanin and pheomelanin in biological materials were developed in 1985. The methods are based on the chemical degradation of eumelanin to pyrrole-2,3,5-tricarboxylic acid and of pheomelanin to aminohydroxyphenylalanine isomers, which can be analyzed and quantitated by high performance liquid chromatography. This review summarizes a...
McIlwraith CW, Frisbie DD, Kawcak CE.Osteoarthritis (OA) is an important cause of pain, disability and economic loss in humans, and is similarly important in the horse. Recent knowledge on post-traumatic OA has suggested opportunities for early intervention, but it is difficult to identify the appropriate time of these interventions. The horse provides two useful mechanisms to answer these questions: 1) extensive experience with clinical OA in horses; and 2) use of a consistently predictable model of OA that can help study early pathobiological events, define targets for therapeutic intervention and then test these putative thera...
Higuchi R, Bowman B, Freiberger M, Ryder OA, Wilson AC.To determine whether DNA survives and can be recovered from the remains of extinct creatures, we have examined dried muscle from a museum specimen of the quagga, a zebra-like species (Equus quagga) that became extinct in 1883 (ref. 1). We report that DNA was extracted from this tissue in amounts approaching 1% of that expected from fresh muscle, and that the DNA was of relatively low molecular weight. Among the many clones obtained from the quagga DNA, two containing pieces of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) were sequenced. These sequences, comprising 229 nucleotide pairs, differ by 12 base substitu...
Fortune JE.Evidence from several species indicates that the initial stages of follicular growth proceed very slowly. In contrast, the stages after antrum formation are much more rapid. Atresia seems to be most prevalent as follicles approach the size at which they could be recruited for potential ovulation. Although most follicles become atretic around that stage, a few are recruited into a cohort or wave of follicles that continue to grow beyond the stage at which atresia normally occurs. Next, a species-specific number of follicles is selected for dominance. In some species (e.g. rats, primates, pigs),...
Frisbie DD, Cross MW, McIlwraith CW.Histological measurements of the thickness of non-calcified and calcified cartilage, as well as the subchondral bone plate in five locations on the femoral trochlea and medial femoral condyles of species were used in preclinical studies of articular cartilage and compared to those of the human knee. Cadaver specimens were obtained of six human knees, as well as six equine, six goat, six dog, six sheep and six rabbit stifle joints (the animal equivalent of the human knee). Specimens were taken from the lateral trochlear ridge, medial trochlear ridge and medial femoral condyle. After histopathol...
Ahern BJ, Parvizi J, Boston R, Schaer TP.Review the literature for single site cartilage defect research and evaluate the respective strengths and weaknesses of different preclinical animal models. Methods: A literature search for animal models evaluating single site cartilage defects was performed. Variables tabulated and analyzed included animal species, age and number, defect depth and diameter and study duration. Cluster analyses were then used to separate animals with only distal femoral defects into similar groups based on defect dimensions. Representative human studies were included allowing comparison of common clinical lesio...
Seyfarth RM, Cheney DL.Convergent evidence from many species reveals the evolutionary origins of human friendship. In horses, elephants, hyenas, dolphins, monkeys, and chimpanzees, some individuals form friendships that last for years. Bonds occur among females, among males, or between males and females. Genetic relatedness affects friendships. In species where males disperse, friendships are more likely among females. If females disperse, friendships are more likely among males. Not all friendships, however, depend on kinship; many are formed between unrelated individuals. Friendships often involve cooperative inte...
McCue ME, Bannasch DL, Petersen JL, Gurr J, Bailey E, Binns MM, Distl O, Guérin G, Hasegawa T, Hill EW, Leeb T, Lindgren G, Penedo MC, Røed KH....An equine SNP genotyping array was developed and evaluated on a panel of samples representing 14 domestic horse breeds and 18 evolutionarily related species. More than 54,000 polymorphic SNPs provided an average inter-SNP spacing of ∼43 kb. The mean minor allele frequency across domestic horse breeds was 0.23, and the number of polymorphic SNPs within breeds ranged from 43,287 to 52,085. Genome-wide linkage disequilibrium (LD) in most breeds declined rapidly over the first 50-100 kb and reached background levels within 1-2 Mb. The extent of LD and the level of inbreeding were highest in the ...
Science (New York, N.Y.)February 13, 2001
Volume 291, Issue 5503 474-477 doi: 10.1126/science.291.5503.474
Vilà C, Leonard JA, Gotherstrom A, Marklund S, Sandberg K, Liden K, Wayne RK, Ellegren H.Domestication entails control of wild species and is generally regarded as a complex process confined to a restricted area and culture. Previous DNA sequence analyses of several domestic species have suggested only a limited number of origination events. We analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequences of 191 domestic horses and found a high diversity of matrilines. Sequence analysis of equids from archaeological sites and late Pleistocene deposits showed that this diversity was not due to an accelerated mutation rate or an ancient domestication event. Consequently, high mtDNA se...
Schwartz S, Elnitski L, Li M, Weirauch M, Riemer C, Smit A, Green ED, Hardison RC, Miller W.Analysis of multiple sequence alignments can generate important, testable hypotheses about the phylogenetic history and cellular function of genomic sequences. We describe the MultiPipMaker server, which aligns multiple, long genomic DNA sequences quickly and with good sensitivity (available at http://bio.cse.psu.edu/ since May 2001). Alignments are computed between a contiguous reference sequence and one or more secondary sequences, which can be finished or draft sequence. The outputs include a stacked set of percent identity plots, called a MultiPip, comparing the reference sequence with sub...
Costa MC, Silva G, Ramos RV, Staempfli HR, Arroyo LG, Kim P, Weese JS.The advance of new sequencing technologies has allowed more comprehensive characterization of complex microbial communities, including the ones inhabiting the intestinal tract. The presence of extreme environmental filters, such as low pH, digestive enzymes and anaerobic conditions along the tract, acts on the selection of unique bacteria in each compartment. The intestinal microbiota has an enormous impact on the maintenance of health. However, data about the bacteria present in the different intestinal compartments of horses are sparse. In this study, high throughput sequencing was used to c...
Science (New York, N.Y.)February 22, 2018
Volume 360, Issue 6384 111-114 doi: 10.1126/science.aao3297
Gaunitz C, Fages A, Hanghøj K, Albrechtsen A, Khan N, Schubert M, Seguin-Orlando A, Owens IJ, Felkel S, Bignon-Lau O, de Barros Damgaard P....The Eneolithic Botai culture of the Central Asian steppes provides the earliest archaeological evidence for horse husbandry, ~5500 years ago, but the exact nature of early horse domestication remains controversial. We generated 42 ancient-horse genomes, including 20 from Botai. Compared to 46 published ancient- and modern-horse genomes, our data indicate that Przewalski's horses are the feral descendants of horses herded at Botai and not truly wild horses. All domestic horses dated from ~4000 years ago to present only show ~2.7% of Botai-related ancestry. This indicates that a massive genomic ...
Heizmann CW, Berchtold MW, Rowlerson AM.The physiological role of the Ca2+-binding protein parvalbumin in skeletal muscle has been investigated by measuring the parvalbumin content by HPLC in a variety of mammalian muscles, including man, and comparing the results with the respective muscle relaxation properties and fiber type compositions. The parvalbumin concentrations were highest in the skeletal muscles of the smallest animal investigated (mouse, gastrocnemius: 4.9 g/kg), which has the highest relaxation speed, and lowest in the larger animals (horse, deep gluteal muscle: less than or equal to 0.001 g/kg) and man (vastus, tricep...
Windberger U, Bartholovitsch A, Plasenzotti R, Korak KJ, Heinze G.In this study species-specific values for whole blood viscosity (WBV), plasma viscosity (PV) and erythrocyte aggregation (EA) were determined in a total of 360 animals. We used 40 individual adult animals of nine mammalian species: horse, pig, dog, cat, rat, cattle, sheep, rabbit and mouse. WBV measurements were carried out using a LS30 viscometer, PV was measured using OCR-D and EA was measured using a Myrenne aggregometer and the LS30 (aggregation index at low shear rate). At low shear rates (0.7 s(-1) and 2.4 s(-1)) haematocrit (Hct)-standardized (40 % Hct) samples showed a higher value of ...
Heglund NC, Taylor CR.In this study we investigate how speed and stride frequency change with body size. We use this information to define 'equivalent speeds' for animals of different size and to explore the factors underlying the six-fold difference in mass-specific energy cost of locomotion between mouse- and horse-sized animals at these speeds. Speeds and stride frequencies within a trot and a gallop were measured on a treadmill in 16 species of wild and domestic quadrupeds, ranging in body size from 30 g mice to 200 kg horses. We found that the minimum, preferred and maximum sustained speeds within a trot and a...
