engleski

Determination of Susceptibility to Scrapie in Croatian Indigenous Sheep Breeds by Analysis of the prp Gene

Scrapie is a transmissible, fatal neurodegenerative disease of sheep and goats which belongs to the group of prion diseases. Polymorphisms of the host-encoded prion protein PrP are associated with disease susceptibility and pathogenesis. Three polymorphic codons of the prp gene define the level of susceptibility or resistance to scrapie. Typing of the prp gene is required for successful implementation of breeding programs aimed at producing scrapie-resistant sheep. In this work, development of a simple and inexpensive method for prp genotyping was attempted, in order to support genotyping projects for Croatian indigenous sheep breeds. Two PCR-based genotyping methods are described, which require only basic equipment. First preliminary data are presented for Dalmatian pramenka, which is an important Croatian indigenous breed. This breed seems to be moderately susceptible to scrapie, although a larger study is needed to confirm this finding.

prion; scrapie; Dalmatian pramenka; polymorphism; susceptibility

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