Kamran Muhammad, Raza Ali, Naseem Muhammad N, Turni Conny, Tabor Ala E, James Peter
The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture & Food Innovation, Centre for Animal Science, St Lucia, QLD, Australia.
University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
Front Immunol. 2024 Jul 16;15:1402123. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1402123. eCollection 2024.
Control of buffalo flies (, BFs) relies mainly on chemical methods; however, resistance to insecticides is widespread in BF populations. Breeding for resistance to BFs represents a possible alternative, but direct phenotyping of animals is laborious and often inaccurate. The availability of reliable diagnostic biomarker(s) to identify low BF carrier cattle would facilitate rapid and accurate selection for genetic improvement. However, limited information is available regarding differences amongst cattle in host responses to BF infestation.
This study investigated the variation in Brangus cattle serum proteomic profiles before (naïve) and after peak BF exposure, in low (LF) and high BF burden (HF) cattle. Cattle were phenotyped for susceptibility based on BF counts on multiple dates using visual and photographic techniques. The relative abundance of serum proteins in cattle before and after exposure to BFs was analysed using sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment ion mass spectrometry (SWATH-MS).
Exposure to BFs elicited similar responses in HF and LF cattle, with 79 and 70 proteins, respectively, showing significantly different abundances post exposure as compared to their relevant naïve groups. The comparison of serum samples from naïve HF and LF cattle identified 44 significantly differentially abundant (DA) proteins, while 37 significantly DA proteins were identified from the comparison between HF and LF cattle post-exposure to BFs. Proteins with higher abundance in naïve LF cattle were enriched in blood coagulation mechanisms that were sustained after exposure to BFs. Strong immune response mechanisms were also identified in naïve LF cattle, whereas these responses developed in HF cattle only after exposure to BF. High BF cattle also showed active anticoagulation mechanisms in response to BF exposure, including downregulation of coagulation factor IX and upregulation of antithrombin-III, which might facilitate BF feeding.
Underlying differences in the abundance of proteins related to blood coagulation and immune response pathways could potentially provide indirect indicators of susceptibility to BF infestation and biomarkers for selecting more BF-resistant cattle.
水牛蝇（BFs）的控制主要依赖化学方法；然而，BF种群对杀虫剂的抗性普遍存在。培育抗BFs的品种是一种可能的替代方法，但对动物进行直接表型分析既费力又往往不准确。利用可靠的诊断生物标志物来识别低BF携带量的牛，将有助于快速准确地进行遗传改良选择。然而，关于牛对BF侵染的宿主反应差异的信息有限。
本研究调查了低BF负担（LF）和高BF负担（HF）的布氏牛在BF暴露高峰之前（未感染）和之后血清蛋白质组图谱的变化。使用视觉和摄影技术，根据多个日期的BF计数对牛的易感性进行表型分析。采用所有理论碎片离子质谱的顺序窗口采集（SWATH-MS）分析牛在暴露于BFs前后血清蛋白的相对丰度。
暴露于BFs后，HF和LF牛产生了相似的反应，分别有79种和70种蛋白质，与各自的未感染组相比，暴露后丰度有显著差异。未感染的HF和LF牛血清样本的比较鉴定出44种显著差异丰富（DA）的蛋白质，而在暴露于BFs后的HF和LF牛之间的比较中鉴定出37种显著DA蛋白质。未感染的LF牛中丰度较高的蛋白质在凝血机制中富集，在暴露于BFs后仍持续存在。在未感染的LF牛中也发现了强烈的免疫反应机制，而这些反应在HF牛中仅在暴露于BF后才出现。高BF牛在暴露于BF时也表现出活跃的抗凝机制，包括凝血因子IX的下调和抗凝血酶III的上调，这可能有助于BF进食。
与凝血和免疫反应途径相关的蛋白质丰度的潜在差异可能为BF侵染易感性提供间接指标，并为选择更抗BF的牛提供生物标志物。
