Published: 18 Mar 2016 | Last Updated: 18 Mar 2016 12:22:39

Disease susceptible calves and cows have animal welfare implications and economic consequences for the farmers due to high medication costs and loss of production. Disease resistant cattle would be a sustainable approach to reduce (preventive) antibiotic use with all negative consequences such as multi-drug resistant pathogens. However, disease resistance is a complex trait depending on physiological and environmental factors including infection pressure but also on a genetic component.

Over the past years, evidence has emerged that the innate immune response, and therefore also the subsequent adaptive immune response generated, differs substantially between species, such as human, mice and farm-animals. However, it was assumed that the innate immune response within a breed, especially within so called outbreed species such as cows, stays the same.

In a recent study a group of researchers led by Dr Amanda Gibson and Professor Dirk Werling, were able to show though that the innate immune response differs quite substantially between two different cow breeds, Holstein Frisian and Browns Swiss, which potentially renders the later one more resistant to bacterial killing through increased bactericidal activity of innate immune cells.

These differences allow now for further genome wide association studies (GWAS) to be performed with the aim to identify genetic markers (SNP) or chromosomal segments in the genome responsible for the observed phenotypic expression of traits of interest.

These upcoming investigations, supported by breeders, will provide a unique ability of combining cutting edge knowledge in genetics and immunology on a large scale per animal level, and will potentially result in the identification of new trait parameters, which would potentially allow for the development of new breeding parameters increasing genetic resistance and thus allowing for a reduced antimicrobial use, and therefore less antibiotic residues in products derived from these cows.

Citation:

Gibson, AJ; Woodman, S; Pennelegion, C; Patterson, R; Stuart, E; Hosker, N; Siviter, P; Douglas, C; Whitehouse, J; Wilkinson, W; Pegg, SA; Villarreal-Ramos, B; Werling, D.
Differential Macrophage Function in Brown Swiss and Holstein Friesian Cattle. (2016)
VETERINARY IMMUNOLOGY AND IMMUNOPATHOLOGY,.