Determination of Genetic Variations of Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) 2, 4, and 6 with Next-Generation Sequencing in Native Cattle Breeds of Anatolia and Holstein Friesian

In recent years, the focus of disease resistance and susceptibility studies in cattle have been on determining patterns in the innate immune response of key proteins, such as Toll-like receptors (TLR). In the bovine genome, there are 10 TLR family members and, of these, TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6 are specialized in the recognition of bacterial ligands. Indigenous cattle breeds of Anatolia have been reported to show fewer signs of clinical bacterial infections, such as bovine tuberculosis and mastitis, and it is hypothesized that this might be due to a less stringent genetic selection during breeding. In contrast, Holstein-Friesian cattle have been under strong selection for milk production, which may have resulted in greater susceptibility to diseases. To test this hypothesis, we have compared the TLR2, TLR4, and TLR6 genes of Anatolian Black (AB), East Anatolian Red (EAR), South Anatolian Red (SAR), Turkish Grey (TG), and Holstein (HOL) cattle using next-generation sequencing. The SAR breed had the most variations overall, followed by EAR, AB, TG, and HOL. TG had the most variations for TLR2, whereas SAR had the most variations in TLR4 and TLR6. We compared these variants with those associated with disease and susceptibility traits. We used exon variants to construct haplotypes, investigated shared haplotypes within breeds, and proposed candidate haplotypes for a disease resistance phenotype in Anatolian cattle breeds

Molecular phylogeny of Anatolian and Cypriot donkey populations based on mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomal STRs

Domestication centers and the lineages of the wild ass contributing to modern domestic donkey population are still unknown, except the Nubian wild ass. This study is designed to fill the gaps about Anatolian donkey domestication. A total of 68 samples of Anatolian donkeys obtained from Turkey and seven donkeys from Cyprus were analyzed for D-loop and cytochrome b gene regions. Males were also genotyped with three equine Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) namely Eca. YM2, Eca.YP9 and Eca.YE1. While the haplotype and nucleotide diversities (h=0.756+/-0.0500 and pi=0.1688+/-0.0012) obtained from D-loop sequences of Anatolian donkey population were found to be moderately high, the Cypriot donkey population were found dramatically reduced (h=0.524+/-0.209 and pi=0.00176 +/- 0.001) than those in Turkey. Only 35% of the Anatolian donkeys were clustered in Clade 1 linked with Nubian ass, while the remaining 65% and 100% of the Cypriot donkeys were clustered in Clade 2. In the present study, Clade 2 was genetically divergent from Somali lineage and from Asiatic wild asses. Thus, they were excluded from to be ancestor of Anatolian and Cypriot donkey populations. A total of 17 and 4 nucleotide differences, discriminating 15 and 6 haplotypes, were defined for D-loop and cytochrome b sequences, respectively. Analyzed Y chromosomal STRs were found to be monomorphic. The allele size of 109, 190 and 195 were identified for Eca. YM2, Eca. YP9 and Eca. YE1, respectively

Genetic Polymorphism of Five Genes Associated with Meat Production Traits in Five Cattle Breeds in Turkey

There are many potential genes that are known to be related to meat production and that can be used for selection to improve meat quality and production include Calpain (CAPN1), Myostatin (MSTN), Calpastatin (CAST), Osteopontin (SPP1) and Thyroglobulin (TG). This study evaluated Zavot (n=60), Anatolian Black (n=59; AB), South Anatolian Red (n=53; SAR), Turkish Gray (n=60; TG) and East Anatolian Red (n=49; EAR) cattle breeds, with the primary goal of investigating DNA polymorphisms of the CAST, TG, SPP1, MSTN and CAPN1 genes. Polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was employed to genotypes. Restriction enzymes revealed polymorphisms with 2 alleles and three genotypes of each CAST, TG, SPP1 and CAPN1 genes were determined in all breeds, while the MSTN locus was found to be monomorphic. Deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) was not observed in the five cattle breeds on SPP1 locus. Significant deviation was observed from HWE in the TG and AB breeds on TG locus. Except for the TG and SAR breeds, genotype frequencies were not consistent with the HWE on CAPN1 locus. Four breeds were found at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium except AB breed for CAST locus. Consequently, this study has shown that genetic polymorphisms do not exist in the MSTN gene but do exist in the remaining four genes that were examined in five Turkish native cattle breeds

Identification of beta-Lactoglobulin Gene SacII Polymorphism in Honamli, Hair and Saanen Goat Breeds Reared in Burdur Vicinity

This study was conducted to determine DNA-polymorphism of a SacII RFLP at exon 7 of the beta-lactoglobulin (beta-LG) gene in Honamli (31), Hair (39) and Saanen (41) goat breeds. A total of 111 goats were genotyped for the beta-lactoglobulin-SacII polymorphism by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). In the studied breeds, digestion of amplification product with SacII restriction enzyme revealed two alleles namely, A and B and three genotypes (AA, BB and AB). Allelic frequencies for Hair, Saanen and Honamli breeds were 0.42, 0.37 and 0.53 respectively for A allele; 0.58, 0.63 and 0.47 respectively for B allele, while genotypic frequencies were 0.13, 0.12 and 0.19 for AA, 0.28, 0.39 and 0.13 for BB, and 0.59, 0.49 and 0.68 for AB respectively. Deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was not observed in the studied breeds. As a result, this study provided information on the polymorphism of beta-lactoglobulin in three goat breeds. Additionally, this study reported the existence of a genetic polymorphism at beta-LG gene in Honamli goat breed for the first time

Prevalence ofPKD1gene mutation in cats in Turkey and pathogenesis of feline polycystic kidney disease

Isparta, Sevim/0000-0002-1575-7861; Bars, Zeynep/0000-0002-8116-1855; CINAR KUL, Bengi/0000-0002-8955-0097; Cildir, Ozge Sebnem/0000-0001-7070-4212WOS:000550747800007PubMed: 32687010Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is one of the most common hereditary diseases in cats, with high prevalence in Persian and Persian-related cats. PKD is caused mainly by an inherited autosomal dominant (AD) mutation, and animals may be asymptomatic for years. We screened 16 cats from various breeds exhibiting a renal abnormality by ultrasound examination and genotyped them for the c.10063C>A transversion on exon 29 of the polycystin-1 (PKD1) gene, by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Among these cats, a Siamese nuclear family of 4 cats with ancestral hereditary renal failure were screened by whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to determine novel variations in genes associated with both AD and autosomal recessive PKD in humans. During the study period, one cat died as a result of renal failure and was forwarded for autopsy. Additionally, we screened 294 cats asymptomatic for renal disease (Angora, Van, Persian, Siamese, Scottish Fold, Exotic Shorthair, British Shorthair, and mixed breeds) to determine the prevalence of the mutation in cats in Turkey. Ten of the symptomatic and 2 of the asymptomatic cats carried the heterozygous C -> A transversion, indicating a prevalence of 62.5% and 0.68%, respectively. In the WGS analysis of 4 cats in the Siamese nuclear family, novel variations were determined in the fibrocystin gene (PKHD1), which was not compatible with dominant inheritance of PKD

Acute and chronic stress alter behavioral laterality in dogs

Dogs are one of the key animal species in investigating the biological mechanisms of behavioral laterality. Cerebral asymmetries are assumed to be influenced by stress, but this subject has not yet been studied in dogs. This study aims to investigate the effect of stress on laterality in dogs by using two different motor laterality tests: the $Kong^{TM}$ Test and a Food-Reaching Test (FRT). Motor laterality of chronically stressed (n = 28) and emotionally/physically healthy dogs (n = 32) were determined in two different environments, i.e., a home environment and a stressful open field test (OFT) environment. Physiological parameters including salivary cortisol, respiratory rate, and heart rate were measured for each dog, under both conditions. Cortisol results showed that acute stress induction by OFT was successful. A shift towards ambilaterality was detected in dogs after acute stress. Results also showed a significantly lower absolute laterality index in the chronically stressed dogs. Moreover, the direction of the first paw used in FRT was a good predictor of the general paw preference of an animal. Overall, these results provide evidence that both acute and chronic stress exposure can change behavioral asymmetries in dogs