Evaluation of CD109, PCP4, and SEMA3D genes for their association with Ovine Johne’s disease in Turkish sheep

Authors: YAMAN, YALCIN - Koyunculuk Arastirma Enstitüsü Müdürlügü; AYMAZ, RAMAZAN - Koyunculuk Arastirma Enstitüsü Müdürlügü; KELES, MURAT - Koyunculuk Arastirma Enstitüsü Müdürlügü; BAY, VEYSEL - Koyunculuk Arastirma Enstitüsü Müdürlügü; HATIPOGLU, ECEM - Koyunculuk Arastirma Enstitüsü Müdürlügü; KAPTAN, CUNEYT - Koyunculuk Arastirma Enstitüsü Müdürlügü; BASKURT, ATILLA - Koyunculuk Arastirma Enstitüsü Müdürlügü; YILMAZ, ONUR - Koyunculuk Arastirma Enstitüsü Müdürlügü; Heaton, Michael - Mike

Submitted to: Animal Biotechnology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/5/2021
Publication Date: 2/20/2021
Citation: Yaman, Y., Aymaz, R., Keles, M., Bay, V., Hatipoglu, E., Kaptan, C., Baskurt, A., Yilmaz, O., Heaton, M.P. 2021. Evaluation of CD109, PCP4, and SEMA3D genes for their association with Ovine Johne’s disease in Turkish sheep. Animal Biotechnology. Article 1887880. https://doi.org/10.1080/10495398.2021.1887880.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10495398.2021.1887880

Interpretive Summary: Johne's disease is prevalent in a wide variety of sheep and sheep production systems around the world. The disease presents in middle-aged ewes as chronic weight loss and poor fleece. The annual ewe mortality rate has been estimated to be as high as 5 to 10 percent in severely affected flocks. This is a bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), and typically occurs in the first six months of life via the oral/fecal route. Although vaccination against MAP is useful, eradication of disease from sheep is time-consuming, expensive, and not completely effective. If available, selective breeding for reduced susceptibility to ovine Johne's disease would be a beneficial and complementary component of eradication strategies. A previous genome study identified DNA markers in three genes associated with ovine Johne's disease. Our aim was to evaluate these DNA markers in Turkish sheep with a retrospective matched case-control study. Sheep in present study were primarily crosses from the Karacabey Merino breeds and consisted of 111 matched case-control pairs of comingled ewes reared in the same research flock. Unfortunately, none of the previously reported DNA markers were associated with ovine Johne's disease in these sheep. Thus, a wider search may be needed to identify any major underlying genetic risk factors for this disease in Turkish sheep.

Technical Abstract: Johne’s disease is a chronic, contagious, zoonotic disease that affects numerous species including livestock and sometimes humans. The disease is globally distributed in sheep populations and caused by Mycobacterium avium Subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). A previous genome-wide association study identified single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers associated with OJD serostatus in CD109, PCP4, and SEMA3D genes. Our aim was to evaluate the same markers for association with OJD seroprevalence in Turkish sheep in a retrospective matched case-control study. The serological status for OJD in 1801 sheep was determined for four native and four composite breeds from three research flocks. One hundred eleven matched case-control pairs were constructed according to breed type and age from 1750 comingled ewes reared in the same environment. A Single Nucleotide Primer Extension (SNuPE) assay was designed to genotype PCP4-Intron 1, PCP4-3’UTR, SEMA3D, CD109-intron 2 and CD109-intron 8 markers and a McNemar’s test was performed on the matched pairs. An ssociation with these five markers was not detected with the OJD serostatus in Turkish sheep (power of detection, 0.95; odds ratio >3; McNemar’s p<.05). Thus, a wider search may be needed to identify any major underlying genetic risk factors for OJD in Turkish sheep.