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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Animal Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #204571
Title: Identification of genetic variation and putative regulatory regions in bovine CARD15

Author
item TAYLOR, KRISTEN - TEXAS A&M
item TAYLOR, JEREMY - UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
item White, Stephen
item WOMACK, JAMES - TEXAS A&M

Submitted to: Mammalian Genome
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/5/2006
Publication Date: 8/1/2006
Citation: Taylor, K.H., Taylor, J.F., White, S.N., Womack, J.E. 2006. Identification of genetic variation and putative regulatory regions in bovine CARD15. Mammalian Genome. 17(8):892-901.

Interpretive Summary: Mutations in the CARD15 gene have been linked to Crohn's disease, a human digestive disorder, and Blau Syndrome, a human genetic disorder leading to early arthritis and eye problems. This study first evaluated the region surrounding the CARD15 gene in cattle, mice, and humans to define key sequences that regulate gene function. The gene was very similar in all species, and several regulatory sequences were identified. The CARD15 gene was then evaluated for polymorphisms present in the cow population, and 36 were identified in cattle from various backgrounds. These polymorphisms were found in 20 haplotype combinations which differ by cow subspecies. Some limited tests were done to see if the cow CARD15 polymorphisms were linked to Johne's disease, a cow disease with some similarities to human Crohn's disease. However, no evidence of such a link was found in this study.

Technical Abstract: Mutations in caspase recruitment domain 15 (CARD15) are associated with susceptibility to Crohn's disease and Blau Syndrome. We performed comparative analyses of the bovine, murine, and human CARD15 transcripts to elucidate functionality of bovine CARD15 and examine its potential role in bovine disease resistance. Comparative analyses of intronic sequence across seven divergent species were performed to identify putative regulatory element binding motifs. High levels of interspecies conservation in sequence, genomic structure, and protein domains were detected indicating common functionality for CARD15 in cattle, human, and mouse. We identified species-specific regulatory elements in the 5' and 3' untranslated regions, suggesting that modes of regulation may have diverged across species. Thirty-one conserved putative regulatory element binding motifs were identified in the CARD15 intronic sequence of seven species. To assess the extent of genetic diversity within bovine CARD15, 41 individuals from two subspecies were sequenced and screened for polymorphisms. Thirty-six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified. Finally, 20 subspecies-specific haplotypes were predicted with 7 and 13 unique haplotypes explaining the diversity within B. taurus taurus and B. taurus indicus animals, respectively. Strong evidence for a simple causal relationship between these SNP loci and their haplotypes with Johne's disease was not detected.