Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: October 7, 1999
Publication Date: N/A
Technical Abstract:
Nitric oxide (NO), an important component of the innate immune response, is derived from L-arginine in a reaction catalyzed by NO synthase (NOS). Although constitutive NOSs exist in various cells, professional phagocytes such as macrophages contain an inducible form of this enzyme (iNOS or NOS2). Induction of this enzyme requires exogenous stimulation of the macrophage by factors such as IFN-gamma and LPS, and results in the production of high concentrations of reactive nitrogen intermediates and subsequent microbial killing. We sought to identify SNPs in the bNOS2 gene in order to determine if specific haplotypes were associated with increased or decreased immune responsiveness. Candidate SNPs were identified by sequencing PCR amplification products of a portion of the bNOS2 gene homologous to human NOS2 intron 7. Twenty-four parents in the MARC reference population were used in the initial screening and polymorphisms were verified by segregation in reference population progeny. The development of SNP markers for bNOS2 and subsequent studies on the contribution of allelic variation to immune responsiveness may provide a means of selecting livestock genetically superior in their resistance to infection by bacterial pathogens.
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