NR AWCB
AU Biagetti,M.; Sebastiani,C.; Venditti,G.; Paternesi,B.; Catalano,A.; Ruina,A.; Papa,P.; Grelloni,V.; Foglini,A.
TI An experimental protocol of male and female genetic selection to improve scrapie resistance in a sheep flock
QU International Conference - Prion 2006: Strategies, advances and trends towards protection of society - 3.10.-6.10.2006, Torino, Italy, Lingotto Conference Centre - Poster sessions PR-04
PT Konferenz-Poster
AB The confirmation of BSE in a french goat on January 2005, raised the attention of European Union on prevention, diagnosis and control of scrapie in small ruminants population. Genetic susceptibility to Scrapie is related to polymorphisms at the Prion Protein gene (codons 136, 154 and 171). Animals with VRQ and ARQ alleles show the highest risk to develop scrapie, while the ARR allele is associated to low risk of disease. A local scrapie outbreak in goats raised in a marginal geographic area was stamped out in December 2004; the proximity of a sarda breed sheep flock worried local sanitary authorities that planned a gradual experimental genotyping programme in order to reduce ARQ allele frequency and to increase ARR allele never forgetting productive and phenotypic features too. All 510 animals were genotyped and only two males were ARR/ARR; to achieve our purposes in the flock and a good number of resistant males, it was therefore necessary to divide sheeps in two coupling-groups one of which was designed to carry on genetic selection. The newborn of this group were genotyped and results were used to decide lambs destination. Genotyping was performed by Real time PCR using a protocol of allelic discrimination and by a primer extension approach using a commercial kit. In one year of selection we obtained 6 more ARR homozygous males, a significant reduction of homozygous ARQ animals from 30% to 15% and a raised ARR frequency (homozygous from 18% to 22% and heterozygous from 50% to 61%). Therefore we can conclude that, in particular situations, the short time necessary to obtain a good increase of resistance to scrapie justify the additional work and costs related to female genotyping.
AD M. Biagetti, C. Sebastiani, G. Venditti, B. Paternesi, P. Papa, V. Grelloni, A. Foglini: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Umbria e delle Marche, Perugia, Italy; A. Catalano, A. Ruina: A.S.L. 2 Perugia, Italy. E-mail: m.biagetti@pg.izs.it
SP englisch
PO Italien