ERVIN ZECEVIC, ADMIR DOKSO, AMRA KAZIC, MUHAMED BRKA

Polymorphisms of ovine prion protein (PrP) gene in Pramenka sheepbreed population in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a group of diseases that affect the nervous system and lead to death. The putative infectious agent is the host-encoded prion protein (PrP) and it appears that the development of scrapie in sheep is closely related to polymorphisms in the host PrP gene. The aim of this study was to investigate three well-known polymorphisms in exon 3 of the PrP gene (at codons 136, 154, and 171) that have a clear and significant effect on scrapie in sheep. Four other polymorphisms (at codons 145, 185, 231, and 237) that are yet undefined were also investigated. The study was performed on the Bosnian Pramenka breed of sheep. Genomic DNA was isolated from venous blood and then a 628 bp long DNA fragment from exon 3 was amplified using the PCR method. The results from this study indicate the presence of seven different genotypes associated with susceptibility to scrapie in the investigated Bosnian sheep population, of which four haplotypes were proven to be susceptible to developing the disease. Two of them were at codon 231 and 237 and have not been described before.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

PrP, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, scrapie, sheep, polymorphism

Polymorphisms of ovine prion protein (PrP) gene in Pramenka sheepbreed population in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Keywords:

PrP, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, scrapie, sheep, polymorphism,

PDF

___

Ryan AM, Womack JE. Somatic cell mapping of the bovine prion protein gene and restriction fragment length polymorphism studies in cattle and sheep. Anim Genet 1993; 24: 23–26.
Lee IY, Westaway D, Smit AFA. Complete genomic sequence and analysis of the prion protein gene region from three mammalian species. Genome Res 1998; 8: 1022–1037.
Dawson M, Hoinville LJ, Hoise B, Hunter N. Guidance on the use of PrP genotyping as an aid to the control of clinical scrapie. Veterinary Record 1998; 142: 623–625.
Oner Y, Yesilbag K, Tuncel E, Elmaci C. Prion protein gene (PrP) polymorphisms in healthy sheep in Turkey. Animal 2011; 5: 11: 1728–1733.
Cubric-Curik V, Feligini M, Ferencakovic M, Alen Dzidic A, Salajpal K, Ambriovic-Ristov A, Cetkovic H , Majhen D, Curik I. Sequence polymorphism of PrP exon 3 gene in Istrian and crossbred sheep. Ital J Anim Sci 2009; 8: 86–88.
Belt PBGM, Muileman IH, Schreuder BEC, Ruijter JB, Gielkens ALJ, Smits MA. Identification of five allelic variants of the sheep PrP gene and their association with natural scrapie. Journal of General Virology 1995; 76: 509–517. 7. Gombojav A, Ishiguro N, Horiuchi M, Serjmyadag D, Byambaa B, Shinagawa M. Amino acid polymorphisms of PrP gene in Mongolian sheep. J Vet Med Sci 2003; 65: 75–81.
Brka M, Hodzic A, Ivankovic S, Vazic B, Muhamedagic S. Pramenka breed types of B&H. In: Porcu K, Markovic B, editors. Catalogue of West Balkan Pramenka Sheep Breed Types (Identification and Conservation of Animal Genetic Resources in South Eastern Europe). Skopje, Macedonia: Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food; 2006. pp. 24–31.
Gmür A, Gaillard C, Dolf G. Characterization of the prion protein gene (PRNP) region in Swiss sheep breeds. J Anim Breed Genet 2004; 121: 216–220.
Hall TA. BioEdit: a user-friendly biological sequence alignment editor and analysis program for Windows 95/98/NT. Nucleic Acid Res 1999; 41: 95–98.
Larkin MA, Blackshields G, Brown NP, Chenna R, McGettigan PA, McWilliam H, Valentin F, Wallace IM, Wilm A, Lopez R et al. Clustal W and Clustal X version 2.0. Bioinformatics 2007; 23: 2947–2948.
SAS Institute Inc. SAS® 9.1.3 Foundation System Requirements for AIX®. Cary, NC, USA: SAS Institute Inc., 2008.
Goldmann W, Hunter N, Foster JD, Salbaum JM. Beyreuther K, Hope J. Two alleles of a neural protein gene linked to scrapie in sheep. P Natl Acad Sci USA 1990; 87: 2476–2480.
Clouscard C, Beaudry P, Elsen JM, Milan D, Dussaucy M, Bounneau C, Schelcher F, Chatelain J, Launay JM, Laplanche JL. Different allelic effects of the codons 136 and 171 of the prion protein gene in sheep with natural scrapie. Journal of General Virology 1995; 76: 2097–2101.
Lühken G, Lipsky S, Peter C, Erhardt G. Prion protein polymorphisms in autochthonous European sheep breeds in respect to scrapie eradication in affected flocks. Small Ruminant Research 2008; 75: 43–47.
Sipos W, Kraus M, Schmoll F, Achmann R, Baumgartner W. PrP genotyping of Austrian sheep breeds. J Vet Med A 2002; 49: 415–418.
Frootan F, Nikbakht G, Ozgenturk NO, Un C. Prion protein coding gene (PRNP) variability in sheep from Turkey and Iran. Biochem Genet 2012; 50: 277–284.