title: Mapping a Major Gene for Resistance to Rift Valley Fever Virus in Laboratory Rats.
abstract: The Rift Valley Fever virus (RVFV) presents an epidemic and epizootic threat in sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula, and has furthermore recently gained attention as a potential weapon of bioterrorism due to its ability to infect both livestock and humans. Inbred rat strains show similar characteristic responses to the disease as humans and livestock, making them a suitable model species. Previous studies had indicated differences in susceptibility to RVFV hepatic disease among various rat strains, including a higher susceptibility of Wistar-Furth (WF) compared to a more resistant Lewis (LEW) strain. Further study revealed that this resistance trait exhibits the pattern of a major dominant gene inherited in Mendelian fashion. A genome scan of a congenic WF.LEW strain, created from the susceptible WF and resistant LEW strains and itself resistant to infection with RVFV, revealed 2 potential regions for the location of the gene, 1 on chromosome 3 and the other on chromosome 9. Through backcrossing of WF.LEW rats to WF rats, genotyping offspring using SNPs and microsatellites, and viral challenges of 3 N1 litters, we have mapped the gene to the distal end of chromosome 3.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, 4467 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4467 (Busch and Womack); the Animal Resource Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9037 (Callicott); the Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609 (Peters); and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609 (Morrill).
authors.forename: Catherine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, 4467 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4467 (Busch and Womack); the Animal Resource Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9037 (Callicott); the Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609 (Peters); and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609 (Morrill).
authors.forename: Ralph J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Callicott
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, 4467 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4467 (Busch and Womack); the Animal Resource Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9037 (Callicott); the Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609 (Peters); and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609 (Morrill).
authors.forename: Clarence J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, 4467 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4467 (Busch and Womack); the Animal Resource Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9037 (Callicott); the Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609 (Peters); and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609 (Morrill).
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Morrill
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, 4467 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4467 (Busch and Womack); the Animal Resource Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-9037 (Callicott); the Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609 (Peters); and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609 (Morrill). jwomack@cvm.tamu.edu.
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Womack
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020296:Animals, Congenic; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D060467:Disease Resistance / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005799:Genes, Dominant; D005819:Genetic Markers; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D011920:Rats, Inbred WF; D012295:Rift Valley Fever / Q000235:genetics*; D012296:Rift Valley fever virus; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: Rift Valley Fever Virus; gene mapping; rats