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Short Communication |
1 Molecular Pathogenesis and Genetics Department, Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA Weybridge), New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK
2 INRA, UR1282, Infectiologie Animale et Santé Publique, F-37380 Nouzilly, France
3 Pathology Department, VLA Weybridge, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK
4 CERA, VLA Weybridge, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT15 3NB, UK
5 UMR INRA-ENVT, Interactions Hôtes–Agents Pathogènes, Ecole Vétérinaire de Toulouse, F-310761 Toulouse, France
Correspondence
S. Cawthraw
s.cawthraw{at}vla.defra.gsi.gov.uk
Sheep with an ARQ/ARQ PRNP genotype at codon positions 136/154/171 are highly susceptible to experimental infection with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). However, a number of sheep challenged orally or intracerebrally with BSE were clinically asymptomatic and found to survive or were diagnosed as BSE-negative when culled. Sequencing of the full PRNP gene open reading frame of BSE-susceptible and -resistant sheep indicated that, in the majority of Suffolk sheep, resistance was associated with an M112T PRNP variant (TARQ allele). A high proportion (47 of 49; 96 %) of BSE-challenged wild-type (MARQ/MARQ) Suffolk sheep were BSE-infected, whereas none of the 20 sheep with at least one TARQ allele succumbed to BSE. Thirteen TARQ-carrying sheep challenged with BSE are still alive and some have survival periods equivalent to, or greater than, reported incubation periods of BSE in ARR/ARR and VRQ/VRQ sheep.
A supplementary table detailing the ovine PRNP ORF PCR amplification conditions used is available with the online version of this paper.
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