p.Asn176Lys and p.Met137Thr dimorphisms of the PRNP gene significantly decrease the susceptibility to classical scrapie in ARQ/ARQ sheep |
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| Authors: | C. Maestrale A. Carta S. Attene A. Galistu C. Santucciu M. G. Cancedda M. Saba S. Sechi C. Patta E. Bandino C. Ligios |
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| Affiliation: | Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, Via Duca degli Abruzzi 8, 07100 Sassari, Italy;. Department for Research in Animal Productions, AGRIS –Sardinia, 07040 Olmedo, Italy |
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| Abstract: | In this study, we investigated the susceptibility to scrapie of Sarda breed sheep carrying the genotype ARQ/ARQ with additional polymorphisms at the PRNP gene. To do this, we examined 256 scrapie-affected sheep and 320 flock-mate negative controls from 24 flocks. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that sheep carrying the ARQ/ARQ genotype with additional dimorphisms had lower risk of becoming scrapie affected when compared with those with ARQ/ARQwildtype genotype. ARQ/ARQ genotypes that were detected with heterozygous or homozygous p.Asn176Lys and p.Met137Thr dimorphisms were associated with the lowest susceptibility to the disease. A significant lower risk was also associated with the p.Arg154His dimorphism, while p.Leu141Phe had a protective effect that was not statistically significant. |
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| Keywords: | PRNP gene scrapie sheep |
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