Combining Landscape Genomics and Ecological Modelling to Investigate Local Adaptation of Indigenous Ugandan Cattle to East Coast Fever
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Date
2018
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers in Genetics
Abstract
East Coast fever (ECF) is a fatal sickness affecting cattle populations of eastern, central,
and southern Africa. The disease is transmitted by the tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus,
and caused by the protozoan Theileria parva parva, which invades host lymphocytes
and promotes their clonal expansion. Importantly, indigenous cattle show tolerance to
infection in ECF-endemically stable areas. Here, the putative genetic bases underlying
ECF-tolerance were investigated using molecular data and epidemiological information
from 823 indigenous cattle from Uganda. Vector distribution and host infection risk were
estimated over the study area and subsequently tested as triggers of local adaptation
by means of landscape genomics analysis. We identified 41 and seven candidate
adaptive loci for tick resistance and infection tolerance, respectively. Among the genes
associated with the candidate adaptive loci are PRKG1 and SLA2. PRKG1 was already
described as associated with tick resistance in indigenous South African cattle, due to
its role into inflammatory response. SLA2 is part of the regulatory pathways involved into
lymphocytes’ proliferation. Additionally, local ancestry analysis suggested the zebuine
origin of the genomic region candidate for tick resistance.
Description
Keywords
Local adaptation, Landscape genomics, Species distribution modelling, Indigenous cattle
Citation
Vajana E, Barbato M, Colli L, Milanesi M, Rochat E, Fabrizi E, Mukasa C, Del Corvo M, Masembe C, Muwanika VB, Kabi F, Sonstegard TS, Huson HJ, Negrini R, The NextGen Consortium, Joost S and Ajmone-Marsan P (2018) Combining Landscape Genomics and Ecological Modelling to Investigate Local Adaptation of Indigenous Ugandan Cattle to East Coast Fever. Front. Genet. 9:385. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2018.00385