Impact of Year and Animal Origin on Key Factors of Ewe Longevity

The MSU sheep flock is an Innovation Flock in the Sheep GEMS project through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Sheep GEMS project is a national, multi-breed project that is focused on evaluating different sheep breeds and their longevity in different climates. As a participant, we collect/send raw data that is compiled. Our preliminary data from the 2022 (Year 1 ), 2023 (Year 2), and 2024 (Year 3) lambing seasons have been included. We collected measurements from Katahdin ewes (n = 46; 1-5 years old). We measured fecal egg counts (FEC), FAMACHA scores, body condition scores (BCS), teat and udder scores. Using the MIXED procedures of SAS, we evaluated these measurements for differences between year and origin. As the ewe flock was established in the summer of 2021 , our ewes were sourced from 5 outside flocks. No interactions were observed, therefore only main effects will be presented. An effect of both year (P \u3c 0.01) and origin (P \u3c 0.01) was observed in FEC. A year effect was also observed on FAMACHA scores (P = 0.01). For BCS, both year (P \u3c 0.01) and origin (P = 0.02) caused differences, with year 3 being the lowest. Teat placement scores were not impacted by year or origin (P \u3e 0.21) whereas udder depth was only impacted by ewe origin (P = 0.02). Effects of year were widely seen and speak to the impact of year-to-year changes in environment. IA CUC #22-11- 02.https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/celebration_posters_2024/1019/thumbnail.jp

Interrelationships of Maternal Characteristics in Hair Sheep

Since the spring of 2022, the MSU sheep flock has been an Innovation Flock for the Sheep GEMS project, managed by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The GEMS project is a multibreed, national project evaluating longevity of ewes within flocks. Our part as a participant in the project involves collecting and sending raw data which is compiled into 1 very large data set. The research discussed here uses our preliminary data from the 2022, 2023, and 2024 lambing seasons collected from our Katahdin ewes (n =46; 1-5 years of age). Collected data included fecal egg count (FEC), body condition scoring (BCS), FAMACHA scores, teat and udder scores. Data were analyzed using the CORR procedure in SAS with a significance level set at P \u3c 0.05. Udder depth provided the most correlations, including a negative relationship (r = - 0.21) with ewe age and a negative relationship (r = - 0.21) with FAMACHA. There was also a negative correlation (r = - 0.21) between udder depth and BCS. Furthermore, ewe age was negatively related (r = - 0.28) to FEC. Unsurprisingly, there was a positive relationship (r = 0.22) between udder and teat scores. Also, the BCS was positively correlated (r = 0.21) with mastitis incidence. The results of this project underline the importance of multiple traits which could contribute to ewes leaving the flock early.https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/celebration_posters_2024/1050/thumbnail.jp

Varicella-Zoster Virus IE4 Protein Interacts with SR Proteins and Exports mRNAs through the TAP/NXF1 Pathway

Available data suggest that the Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) IE4 protein acts as an important regulator on VZV and cellular genes expression and could exert its functions at post-transcriptional level. However, the molecular mechanisms supported by this protein are not yet fully characterized. In the present study, we have attempted to clarify this IE4-mediated gene regulation and identify some cellular partners of IE4. By yeast two-hybrid and immunoprecipitation analysis, we showed that IE4 interacts with three shuttling SR proteins, namely ASF/SF2, 9G8 and SRp20. We positioned the binding domain in the IE4 RbRc region and we showed that these interactions are not bridged by RNA. We demonstrated also that IE4 strongly interacts with the main SR protein kinase, SRPK1, and is phosphorylated in in vitro kinase assay on residue Ser-136 contained in the Rb domain. By Northwestern analysis, we showed that IE4 is able to bind RNA through its arginine-rich region and in immunoprecipitation experiments the presence of RNA stabilizes complexes containing IE4 and the cellular export factors TAP/NXF1 and Aly/REF since the interactions are RNase-sensitive. Finally, we determined that IE4 influences the export of reporter mRNAs and clearly showed, by TAP/NXF1 knockdown, that VZV infection requires the TAP/NXF1 export pathway to express some viral transcripts. We thus highlighted a new example of viral mRNA export factor and proposed a model of IE4-mediated viral mRNAs export