PrP gene polymorphism in sheep breeds in Slovakia and susceptibility to scrapie

Acta Virol. 2006;50(4):257-61.

Abstract

We analyzed the prion protein (PrP) genotype based on the codons 136, 154 and 171 and assigned to five risk groups (R1-R5) in healthy and scrapie-affected sheep in Slovakia. In healthy (asymptomatic) population, 119 Merino, 106 Improved Valachian, 117 Tsigai, and 48 Suffolk breeds were tested. Among the asymptomatic sheep, the low-risk genotypes R1 and R2 were most abundant in Suffolk (94%) and Merino (84%) breeds, followed by Tsigai (58%) and Improved Valachian (40%) breeds. The medium-risk group R3 was most frequent in Improved Valachian (31%) breed, followed by Tsigai (21%), Merino (10%), and Suffolk (6%) breeds. The occurrence of high-risk groups R4 and R5 was none in Suffolk breed, followed by Merino (6%), Tsigai (21%), and Improved Valachian (30%) breeds. Since 2003, altogether 48 cases of scrapie have been confirmed in Tsigai (38), Merino (4), Improved Valachian (2), Improved Valachian x Tsigai (3), and Suffolk (1) breeds. Among sheep with scrapie, Merino breed belonged to the medium-risk group R3. The majority of scrapie-affected Tsigai sheep were classified into high-risk R5 (50%) and medium-risk R3 (42%) groups. We showed an association of scrapie with medium- and high-risk groups of PrP genotype in Slovakia. In particular, the glutamine at position 171 appears to be of major importance for the susceptibility to scrapie.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Codon / genetics
  • Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Genotype
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Nucleic Acid Denaturation
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Polymorphism, Genetic*
  • Prions / genetics*
  • Scrapie / genetics*
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Sheep / genetics*
  • Slovakia

Substances

  • Codon
  • Prions

Associated data

  • GENBANK/AY822665
  • GENBANK/AY822666
  • GENBANK/AY822667
  • GENBANK/AY822668
  • GENBANK/AY822669
  • GENBANK/AY822670
  • GENBANK/AY822671
  • GENBANK/AY822672