Engineering Disease Resistant Cattle |
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Authors: | David?M?Donovan David?E?Kerr Email author" target="_blank">Robert?J?WallEmail author |
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Institution: | (1) Biotechnology and Germplasm Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, USA;(2) Department of Animal Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA |
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Abstract: | Mastitis is a disease of the mammary gland caused by pathogens that find their way into the lumen of the gland through the
teat canal. Mammary gland infections cost the US dairy industry approximately $2 billion dollars annually and have a similar
impact in Europe. In the absence of effective treatments or breeding strategies to enhance mastitis resistance, we have created
transgenic dairy cows that express lysostaphin in their mammary epithelium and secrete the antimicrobial peptide into milk.
Staphylococcus aureus, a major mastitis pathogen, is exquisitely sensitive to lysostaphin. The transgenic cattle resist S. aureus mammary gland challenges, and their milk kills the bacteria, in a dose dependent manner. This first step in protecting cattle
against mastitis will be followed by introduction of other genes to deal with potential resistance issues and other mastitis
causing organisms. Care will be taken to avoid altering milk’s nutritional and manufacturing properties. Multi-cistronic constructs
may be required to achieve our goals as will other strategies possibly involving RNAi and gene targeting technology. This
work demonstrates the possibility of using transgenic technology to address disease problems in agriculturally important species.
The U.S. Government's right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged. |
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Keywords: | bovine disease resistance mastitis transgene |
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