Page 7 - Eclipse - RVC Alumni Magazine - Autumn 2020

ONE HEALTH
analysis of viral and bacterial genomes isolated from chickens, humans and
the environment at points along each specific network, focused on molecular changes that indicate increased host range, changed virulence, or acquisition of antimicrobial resistance.
In conjunction, we are carrying out in-depth social science research to understand the economic processes and power relationships that underlie different networks, and which both
govern and constrain the behaviours of the very many people who are involved in the production and distribution of chickens. Based on the evidence the Hub generates, we will evaluate targeted interventions (technical, behavioural
and institutional) designed to reduce zoonotic risk, whilst satisfying the need for countries to increase their production of chicken meat and eggs.
Find out more at
onehealthpoultry.org
Lessons in coronavirus biology from companion animals
Researchers at the RVC and their collaborators have been awarded almost £200,000 by the UK Research and Innovation for a
project aimed at understanding genetic susceptibility to coronaviruses. The project is led by Professor Lucy Davison, MRC Clinician Scientist Fellow and Professor of Veterinary Clinical Genetics. Other RVC researchers include Dr Judy Mitchell, who is an expert on canine coronaviruses, Dr Androniki Psifidi, who brings expertise in population genetics to the project and Dr Marsha Wallace, who will undertake detailed bioinformatic analysis of the data.
The project also benefits from wider collaborations including veterinary pathologist Dr Kate Hughes, from the University of Cambridge, immuno- geneticist Dr Lorna Kennedy from Nottingham Trent University and Professor Chris O’Callaghan, a consultant physician at the University of Oxford.
The project is known as MASCOT, which stands for Mapping Animal Susceptibility to Coronaviruses: Outcomes and Transcriptomics, and will focus on the biology of Canine Respiratory Coronavirus (CRCoV) and Feline Infectious
Peritonitis (FIP) as potential models for understanding COVID-19. These two common species-specific coronaviruses share some features with SARS-Cov-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. In fact, researchers from the RVC were the first to identify CRCoV in the early 2000’s and the RVC has continued to have
a very active and productive research programme in canine respiratory disease since that time.
The idea for the MASCOT project arose from the clinical observation that some animals appear to recover quickly and completely from naturally occurring coronavirus infections whereas others develop complications that may be fatal. As with the variable response to SARS- Cov-2 in humans, it is not clear what causes the difference in clinical severity of disease from patient to patient.
have developed signs of FIP following enteric coronavirus infection in earlier life compared to cats without FIP.
In addition to looking at genetic susceptibility in individual cats and dogs, the team will also use archived tissue samples from clinical cases to understand which genes are switched on or off in severe coronavirus responses, using a technique called RNA-sequencing. This will provide a ‘transcriptomic signature’
of severe CRCoV-associated disease as well as FIP. This will provide researchers and clinicians with a better understanding of the way in which the immune system reacts to coronaviruses. This type of information is critical in understanding what drives the severe complications seen in some individuals, which in turn can help to identify new treatment targets for viral infections.
This is not the first time this team has worked together on a One Health project. All the members of the MASCOT team also participate in another larger research consortium,
the Canine Diabetes Genetics Partnership. This means that when
the UKRI advertised funding for
“ideas that address COVID-19”, the team knew that they already had the expertise to react quickly to this call. By adapting their existing analysis tools and pipelines from diabetes research and integrating their existing data from whole genome sequencing and RNA- sequencing, they aim to complete the project within 12 months.
The team will use a technique called whole genome sequencing to identify genetic variants that are found more commonly in canine patients that suffer severe consequences of CRCoV, such as pneumonia, compared to dogs who do not show clinical signs of infection. Similarly in cats, the team will study the whole genomes of feline patients who
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