Materniak-Kornas Magdalena, Piórkowska Katarzyna, Ropka-Molik Katarzyna, Musiał Adrianna Dominika, Kowalik Joanna, Kycko Anna, Kuźmak Jacek
Department of Biochemistry, National Veterinary Research Institute, 24-100 Pulawy, Poland.
Department of Animal Molecular Biology, National Research Institute of Animal Production, 32-083 Balice, Poland.
Pathogens. 2024 Dec 30;14(1):16. doi: 10.3390/pathogens14010016.
Small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) infect sheep, causing a multiorganic disease called maedi-visna or ovine progressive pneumonia, which significantly affects the production and welfare of sheep, generating serious economic losses. Although not all infected animals develop fully symptomatic disease, they constantly spread the virus in the flock. Since the infection is incurable and no vaccine is available, another approach is necessary to control SRLV infections. In recent years, an alternative for culling infected animals has become the approach based on identifying genetic markers for selecting SRLV-resistant individuals. Recent reports revealed several candidates, including gene encoding transmembrane protein 154 (TMEM154). Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are found within this gene in sheep of different breeds, but only some can be considered as resistant markers. This study aimed to investigate the presence of single polymorphic sites in TMEM154 gene in sheep of selected Polish flocks and assess their association with the infection and proviral load in the context of susceptibility to SRLV infection. In total 107 sheep, representing three breeds, were screened for their SRLV infection status by serological and PCR testing. All these animals were also genotyped to characterize the presence of SNPs in TMEM154 gene and estimate their potential of being the SRLV-resistance marker. The frequency of identified alleles differed among breeds. Moreover, the positive association between TMEM154 genotype and SRLV status was found for E35K polymorphism and two polymorphic sites in 5'UTR in one of analyzed breed. However, when the relationship between SNPs and SRLV proviral load was analyzed, five had a strong association, considering the whole population of tested sheep. Presented data, for the first time, identified the presence of SNPs in TMEM154 gene in sheep housed in Polish flocks and suggested that selecting SRLV-resistant animals based on this analysis might be possible, but further validation in a larger group of sheep is required.
小反刍兽慢病毒（SRLV）感染绵羊，引发一种称为梅迪-维斯纳病或绵羊进行性肺炎的多器官疾病，该病严重影响绵羊的生产和健康，造成严重经济损失。尽管并非所有感染动物都会发展为完全有症状的疾病，但它们会持续在羊群中传播病毒。由于这种感染无法治愈且没有可用疫苗，因此需要采取另一种方法来控制SRLV感染。近年来，淘汰感染动物的替代方法是基于识别用于选择抗SRLV个体的遗传标记的方法。最近的报告揭示了几个候选基因，包括编码跨膜蛋白154（TMEM154）的基因。在不同品种绵羊的该基因中发现了几个单核苷酸多态性（SNP），但只有一些可被视为抗性标记。本研究旨在调查选定波兰羊群中绵羊TMEM154基因的单态性位点的存在情况，并在SRLV感染易感性的背景下评估它们与感染及前病毒载量的关联。通过血清学和PCR检测，对总共代表三个品种的107只绵羊的SRLV感染状况进行了筛查。所有这些动物也进行了基因分型，以表征TMEM154基因中SNP的存在情况，并估计它们成为SRLV抗性标记的潜力。所识别等位基因的频率在不同品种间存在差异。此外，在其中一个分析品种中，发现E35K多态性和5'UTR中的两个多态性位点的TMEM154基因型与SRLV状态呈正相关。然而，在分析SNP与SRLV前病毒载量之间的关系时，考虑到整个测试绵羊群体，有五个呈现出强关联。本研究数据首次确定了波兰羊群中绵羊TMEM154基因中SNP的存在，并表明基于此分析选择抗SRLV动物可能是可行的，但需要在更大规模的绵羊群体中进行进一步验证。
