PrP genotypes of free-ranging wapiti (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) with chronic wasting disease.
Variation in PrP prion gene sequence appears to modulate susceptibility to chronic wasting disease (CWD), a naturally occurring prion disease affecting four North American species of the family Cervidae. Wapiti (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) PrP is polymorphic at codon 132 [methionine (M) or leucine (L)]. We genotyped 171 samples, collected between 2002 and 2005 from CWD-infected and uninfected wapiti from three free-ranging populations in Colorado, USA, to study influences of PrP polymorphisms on CWD susceptibility further. Overall genotype frequencies for 124 apparently uninfected animals were 65.3 % MM132, 32.3 % ML132 and 2.4 % LL132; for 47 CWD-infected animals, these frequencies were 70.2 % MM132, 27.7 % ML132 and 2.1 % LL132. Surprisingly, our data revealed that, among recent (approx. 2002--2005) CWD cases detected in free-ranging Colorado wapiti, the three PrP codon 132 genotypes were represented in proportion to their abundance in sampled populations (P> or =0.24) and all three genotypes showed equivalent susceptibility to infection.
Perucchini
Matteo
M
Roslin Institute, Neuropathogenesis Unit, Edinburgh, UK.
Griffin
Karen
K
Wildlife Research Center, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Miller
Michael W
MW
Wildlife Research Center, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Goldmann
Wilfred
W
Roslin Institute, Neuropathogenesis Unit, Edinburgh, UK.
D000818:Animals; D003120:Colorado; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005838:Genotype; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D011328:Prions / Q000235:genetics*; D012418:Ruminants; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D034081:Wasting Disease, Chronic / Q000235:genetics*
D011328:Prions