Molecular characterization in the toll-like receptor 9 gene of Cape Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra zebra) from three populations

Rae M Smith; Antoinette Kotzé; J Paul Grobler; Desiré L Dalton

doi:10.1016/j.meegid.2019.104118

Molecular characterization in the toll-like receptor 9 gene of Cape Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra zebra) from three populations

Infect Genet Evol. 2020 Mar:78:104118. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2019.104118. Epub 2019 Nov 14.

Authors

Rae M Smith¹, Antoinette Kotzé¹, J Paul Grobler², Desiré L Dalton³

Affiliations

¹ South African National Biodiversity Institute, P.O. Box 754, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; Department of Genetics, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa.
² Department of Genetics, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa.
³ South African National Biodiversity Institute, P.O. Box 754, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; Department of Zoology, University of Venda, University Road, Thohoyandou 0950, South Africa. Electronic address: d.dalton@sanbi.org.za.

PMID: 31734289
DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2019.104118

Abstract

Toll-like receptors (TLR) are a family of proteins that signal activation of the innate immune response through the recognition of a variety of pathogen molecular compounds. Here, we characterized the complete TLR9 gene in Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) from three populations in South Africa and compared sequences to a variety of horse and donkey breeds. Overall, we identified six single nucleotide polymorpHisms (SNPs). A single SNP (G586S) was non-synonymous, whereas the remaining SNPs were synonymous. The G586S alteration was detected in Cape mountain zebra populations with varying frequency. In addition, adaptive diversity was found to be discordant with variation based on neutral markers. The mutation is unique to the Cape mountain zebra when compared to other equid species. The structure of TLR9 is relatively conserved and the resulting amino acid substitution was found to have minimal interaction with active sites in the protein. Future studies can explore the effects of this potentially functional mutation which will contribute to our understanding of genetic diversity within adaptive sites of the Cape mountain zebra genome.

Keywords: Cape mountain zebra; Genetic diversity; Single nucleotide mutation; Toll-like receptor 9.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Amino Acid Substitution
Animals
Equidae / genetics*
Exons
Horses / genetics
Mutation
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
South Africa
Toll-Like Receptor 9 / genetics*

Substances

Toll-Like Receptor 9