Identification of splice variants, targeted microRNAs and functional single nucleotide polymorphisms of the BOLA-DQA2 gene in dairy cattle

DNA Cell Biol. 2012 May;31(5):739-44. doi: 10.1089/dna.2011.1402. Epub 2011 Nov 15.

Abstract

Major histocompatibility complex, class II, DQ alpha 2, also named BOLA-DQA2, belongs to the Bovine Leukocyte Antigen (BOLA) class II genes which are involved in the immune response. To explore the variability of the BOLA-DQA2 gene and resistance to mastitis in cows, the splice variants (SV), targeted microRNAs (miRNAs), and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in this study. A new SV (BOLA-DQA2-SV1) lacking part of exon 3 (195 bp) and two 3'-untranslated regions (UTR) (52 bp+167 bp) of the BOLA-DQA2 gene was found in the healthy and mastitis-infected mammary gland tissues. Four of 13 new SNPs and multiple nucleotide polymorphisms resulted in amino acid changes in the protein and SNP (c. +1283 C>T) may affect the binding to the seed sequence of bta-miR-2318. Further, we detected the relative expressions of two BOLA-DQA2 transcripts and five candidated microRNAs binding to the 3'-UTR of two transcripts in the mammary gland tissues in dairy cattle by using the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. The result showed that expression of the BOLA-DQA2-SV1 mRNA was significantly upregulated 2.67-fold (p<0.05) in mastitis-infected mammary tissues (n = 5) compared with the healthy mammary gland mammary tissues (n = 5). Except for bta-miR-1777a, miRNA expression (bta-miR-296, miR-2430, and miR-671) was upregulated 1.75 to 2.59-fold (p<0.05), whereas miR-2318 was downregulated in the mastitis cows. Our findings reveal that BOLA-DQA2-SV1 may play an important role in the mastitis resistance in dairy cattle. Whether the SNPs affect the structure of the BOLA-DQA2 gene or association with mastitis resistance is unknown and warrants further investigation.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • 3' Untranslated Regions / genetics*
  • Alternative Splicing*
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Cattle
  • Female
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / genetics*
  • Mammary Glands, Animal / metabolism
  • Mammary Glands, Animal / pathology
  • Mastitis, Bovine / genetics*
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / genetics*
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid

Substances

  • 3' Untranslated Regions
  • BoLA-DQA antigen
  • Histocompatibility Antigens Class II
  • MicroRNAs
  • RNA, Messenger