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Animal genetics

The animal genetics section considers research covering all areas of animal genetics and breeding. This includes, but not limited to, genomic selection and breeding programmes, selection, quantitative genetics, genomics, diversity and evolution of domestic animals. This section also considers submissions describing clinical studies investigating the etiology, diagnosis, and treatment of genetic diseases. Comparative medicine studies are also considered.  

  1. Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a threat to pig production worldwide. Our objective was to understand mechanisms of persistence of PRRS virus (PRRSV) in tonsil. Transcriptome data from ...

    Authors: Qian Dong, Joan K. Lunney, Kyu-Sang Lim, Yet Nguyen, Andrew S. Hess, Hamid Beiki, Raymond R. R. Rowland, Kristen Walker, James M. Reecy, Christopher K. Tuggle and Jack C. M. Dekkers

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2021 17:88

    Content type: Research article

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  2. The prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) neoplastic polyps in Jack Russell terriers (JRTs) has increased in Japan since the late 2000s. Recently, we demonstrated that JRTs with GI polyps harbor identical germli...

    Authors: Kyoko Yoshizaki, Akihiro Hirata, Hiroyuki Matsushita, Naohito Nishii, Mifumi Kawabe, Takashi Mori and Hiroki Sakai

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2021 17:32

    Content type: Methodology article

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  3. Infection with bovine leukemia virus (BLV), the causative agent for enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL), is increasing in dairy farms of Japan. The tendency of tumor development following BLV infection in certain c...

    Authors: Yasuko Inagaki, Tomoko Kobayashi, Yoshihito Suda, Kazuya Kusama and Kazuhiko Imakawa

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2020 16:407

    Content type: Research article

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  4. Free-range local chickens (FRLC) farming is an important activity in Tanzania, however, they have not been well-characterized. This study aimed to phenotypically characterize three Tanzanian FRLCs and to deter...

    Authors: James R. Mushi, Gaspar H. Chiwanga, Esinam N. Amuzu-Aweh, Muhammed Walugembe, Robert A. Max, Susan J. Lamont, Terra R. Kelly, Esther L. Mollel, Peter L. Msoffe, Jack Dekkers, Rodrigo Gallardo, Huaijun Zhou and Amandus P. Muhairwa

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2020 16:360

    Content type: Research article

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  5. Mastitis is the most common disease in dairy cattle and the costliest for the dairy farming industry, as it lowers milk yield and quality. Mastitis occurs as a result of interactions between microorganisms and...

    Authors: M. Zalewska, E. Kawecka-Grochocka, D. Słoniewska, E. Kościuczuk, S. Marczak, W. Jarmuż, L. Zwierzchowski and E. Bagnicka

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2020 16:320

    Content type: Research article

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  6. The 3D8 single chain variable fragment (scFv) is a mini-antibody sequence that exhibits independent nuclease activity against all types of nucleic acids. In this research, crossing a 3D8 scFv G1 transgenic roo...

    Authors: Sung June Byun, Hoonsung Choi, Shanmugam Sureshkumar, Seong-Su Yuk, Jung-Hoon Kwon, Jin-Yong Noh, Sun Keun Jung, Jeom Sun Kim, Keon Bong Oh, Hyeon Yang, Gunsup Lee, Hwi-Cheul Lee, Jae-Seok Woo and Chang-Seon Song

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2020 16:273

    Content type: Research article

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  7. Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (SE) is one of the food-borne pathogenic bacteria, which affects poultry production and poses severe threat to human health. The correlation of immune system and metabolism...

    Authors: Yuanmei Wang, Xiuxiu Miao, Huilong Li, Pengcheng Su, Lili Lin, Liying Liu and Xianyao Li

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2020 16:257

    Content type: Research article

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  8. Johne’s disease (JD) is a chronic intestinal inflammatory disease caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) infection in ruminants. Since there are currently no effective vaccine or treatment op...

    Authors: Sanjay Mallikarjunappa, Flavio S. Schenkel, Luiz F. Brito, Nathalie Bissonnette, Filippo Miglior, Jacques Chesnais, Michael Lohuis, Kieran G. Meade and Niel A. Karrow

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2020 16:165

    Content type: Research article

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  9. Sperm hyperactive motility has previously been shown to influence litter size in pigs, but little is known about the underlying biological mechanisms. The aim of this study was to use RNA sequencing to investi...

    Authors: Maren van Son, Nina Hårdnes Tremoen, Ann Helen Gaustad, Dag Inge Våge, Teklu Tewoldebrhan Zeremichael, Frøydis Deinboll Myromslien and Eli Grindflek

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2020 16:161

    Content type: Research article

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  10. Classical scrapie susceptibility in sheep has been linked to three polymorphisms at codon 136, 154, and 171 in the prion protein gene (PRNP) whereas atypical scrapie susceptibility is related to polymorphisms at ...

    Authors: Eden Yitna Teferedegn, Yalcin Yaman and Cemal Un

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2020 16:122

    Content type: Research article

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  11. In dairy herds, mastitis causes detrimental economic losses. Genetic selection offers a sustainable tool to select animals with reduced susceptibility towards postpartum diseases. Studying underlying mechanism...

    Authors: L. Rohmeier, W. Petzl, M. Koy, T. Eickhoff, A. Hülsebusch, S. Jander, L. Macias, A. Heimes, S. Engelmann, M. Hoedemaker, H. M. Seyfert, C. Kühn, H. J. Schuberth, H. Zerbe and M. M. Meyerholz

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2020 16:33

    Content type: Research article

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  12. Milk sialylated oligosaccharides (SOS) play crucial roles in many biological processes. The most abundant free SOS in goat’s milk are 3’sialyllactose (3′-SL), 6’sialyllactose (6′-SL) and disialyllactose (DSL)....

    Authors: Alessandra Crisà, Salvatore Claps, Bianca Moioli and Cinzia Marchitelli

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2019 15:457

    Content type: Research article

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  13. Weight at birth is an important predictor of neonatal mortality and morbidity in dogs. In addition, the birthweight of the puppies in a litter influences the decision to perform a cesarean section. The goal of...

    Authors: Claude Schelling, Claude Gaillard, Jane Russenberger, Lou Moseley and Gaudenz Dolf

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2019 15:395

    Content type: Research article

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  14. A major challenge in modern medicine and animal husbandry is the issue of antimicrobial resistance. One approach to solving this potential medical hazard is the selection of farm animals with less susceptibili...

    Authors: A. Heimes, J. Brodhagen, R. Weikard, H. M. Hammon, M. M. Meyerholz, W. Petzl, H. Zerbe, S. Engelmann, M. Schmicke, M. Hoedemaker, H.-J. Schuberth and C. Kühn

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2019 15:241

    Content type: Research article

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    The Correction to this article has been published in BMC Veterinary Research 2019 15:285

  15. The small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs) are a heterogeneous group of viruses that includes caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) and Maedi-Visna virus (MVV). SRLVs affect the production and welfare of sh...

    Authors: Silvia Colussi, Rosanna Desiato, Chiara Beltramo, Simone Peletto, Paola Modesto, Maria Grazia Maniaci, Valentina Campia, Antonio Quasso, Sergio Rosati, Luigi Bertolotti, Giuseppe Ru and Pier Luigi Acutis

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2019 15:230

    Content type: Research article

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  16. MicroRNAs are involved in a broad range of biological processes and are known to be differentially expressed in response to bacterial pathogens.

    Authors: Tinghua Huang, Xiali Huang, Wang Chen, Jun Yin, Bomei Shi, Fangfang Wang, Wenzhao Feng and Min Yao

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2019 15:195

    Content type: Research article

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  17. Polymorphisms of the prion protein gene may influence scrapie susceptibility in small ruminants through modified protein conformation. At least 47 amino acid substitutions and 19 silent polymorphisms have been...

    Authors: Maria Vitale, Sergio Migliore, Berhanu Tilahun, Mukarim Abdurahaman, Marco Tolone, Ignazio Sammarco, Vincenzo Di Marco Lo Presti and Endrias Zewdu Gebremedhin

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2019 15:128

    Content type: Research article

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  18. Vitamin D-dependent rickets is rare in animals and humans. Several types of this condition are associated with genetic variants related to vitamin D metabolism. This is the first report of type 1B vitamin D-de...

    Authors: Takahiro Teshima, Sena Kurita, Takashi Sasaki, Hirotaka Matsumoto, Ayaka Niina, Daijiro Abe, Nobuo Kanno and Hidekazu Koyama

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2019 15:62

    Content type: Case Report

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  19. Three Komondor dogs in a small family and 3 sporadic cases exhibited a constellation of signs that included juvenile-onset of failure-to-thrive, inappetence, vomiting and/or diarrhea, and weakness. In each we ...

    Authors: John C. Fyfe, Shelby L. Hemker, Alycia Frampton, Karthik Raj, Peter L. Nagy, Kristi J. Gibbon and Urs Giger

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:418

    Content type: Research article

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  20. Mucolipidosis II (ML II; I-cell disease) is caused by a deficiency of N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphotransferase (GNPTAB; EC 2.7.8.17), which leads to a failure to internalize acid hydrolases into lysosomes for ...

    Authors: Ping Wang, Hamutal Mazrier, Jessica Caverly Rae, Karthik Raj and Urs Giger

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:416

    Content type: Research article

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  21. MicroRNAs can regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional level through translational repression or target degradation. Our previous investigations examined the differential expression levels of chi-mi...

    Authors: Kaiwen Chen, Jinxing Hou, Yuxuan Song, Xiaochuan Zhang, Yuhan Liu, Gonghai Zhang, Kai Wen, Haidong Ma, Guang Li, Binyun Cao and Xiaopeng An

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:369

    Content type: Research article

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  22. Because of the influence of genetics on animal production and the risk of losing genetic diversity of naturally adapted breeds, this study evaluated the genetic diversity of sheep of the Morada Nova breed belo...

    Authors: Caroline Marçal Gomes David, Celia Raquel Quirino, Wilder Hernando Ortiz Vega, Aylton Bartholazzi Junior, Aparecida de Fátima Madella-Oliveira and Ricardo Lopes Dias Costa

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:350

    Content type: Research article

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  23. A short period of overfeeding can lead to severe hepatic steatosis in the goose, which is physiological, suggesting that geese, as a descendent of a migrating ancestor, may have evolutionally developed a uniqu...

    Authors: Long Liu, Qian Wang, Qianqian Wang, Xing Zhao, Pan Zhao, Tuoyu Geng and Daoqing Gong

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:325

    Content type: Research article

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  24. Newcastle disease virus, in its most pathogenic form, threatens the livelihood of rural poultry farmers where there is a limited infrastructure and service for vaccinations to prevent outbreaks of the virus. P...

    Authors: Perot Saelao, Ying Wang, Rodrigo A. Gallardo, Susan J. Lamont, Jack M. Dekkers, Terra Kelly and Huaijun Zhou

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:280

    Content type: Research article

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  25. Apoptosis plays an important role in the regulation of healthy tissue growth and development as well as in controlling the maintenance of homeostasis in exercising muscles. During an intensive physical effort,...

    Authors: K. Ropka-Molik, M. Stefaniuk-Szmukier, K. Piórkowska, T. Szmatoła and M. Bugno-Poniewierska

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:237

    Content type: Research article

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  26. The fatty acid (FA) composition of adipose tissue influences the nutritional quality of meat products. The unsaturation level of FAs is determined by fatty acid desaturases such as stearoyl-CoA desaturases (SC...

    Authors: David Gamarra, Noelia Aldai, Aisaku Arakawa, Luis Javier R. Barron, Andrés López-Oceja, Marian M. de Pancorbo and Masaaki Taniguchi

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:167

    Content type: Research article

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  27. High throughput sequencing allows identification of small non-coding RNAs. Transfer RNA Fragments are a class of small non-coding RNAs, and have been identified as being involved in inhibition of gene expressi...

    Authors: Eduardo Casas, Guohong Cai, Larry A. Kuehn, Karen B. Register, Tara G. McDaneld and John D. Neill

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:89

    Content type: Research article

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  28. Crossed beaks have been reported to occur in Appenzeller Barthuhn, a local Swiss chicken breed. The assumed causes for this beak deformity which are also seen in other bird species including domestic chickens,...

    Authors: Sara Joller, Flurina Bertschinger, Erwin Kump, Astrid Spiri, Alois von Rotz, Daniela Schweizer-Gorgas, Cord Drögemüller and Christine Flury

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:68

    Content type: Research article

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  29. In the past 10 years, the frequency of unplanned cesarean sections in the Labrador Retriever breeding colony at Guiding Eyes for the Blind stayed around 10% (range 5% to 28%). To reduce the number of cesarean ...

    Authors: Gaudenz Dolf, Claude Gaillard, Jane Russenberger, Lou Moseley and Claude Schelling

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:57

    Content type: Research article

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  30. Caesarean section is a routine veterinary obstetrical procedure employed to alleviate dystocia in cattle. However, CS, particularly before the onset of labour, is known to negatively affect neonatal respiratio...

    Authors: Carla Surlis, Keelan McNamara, Eoin O’Hara, Sinead Waters, Marijke Beltman, Joseph Cassidy and David Kenny

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2017 13:391

    Content type: Research article

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  31. Optimization of the immunoglobulin (Ig) yield in bovine milk used as therapeutic immune milk or whey for the prevention of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea in humans is of great importance to improve the...

    Authors: M. Hillreiner, C. Schmautz, I. Ballweg, V. Korenkova, M. W. Pfaffl and H. Kliem

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2017 13:369

    Content type: Research article

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  32. Sperm DNA is protected against fragmentation by a high degree of chromatin packaging. It has been demonstrated that proper chromatin packaging is important for boar fertility outcome. However, little is known ...

    Authors: Maren van Son, Nina Hårdnes Tremoen, Ann Helen Gaustad, Frøydis Deinboll Myromslien, Dag Inge Våge, Else-Berit Stenseth, Teklu Tewoldebrhan Zeremichael and Eli Grindflek

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2017 13:362

    Content type: Research article

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  33. Circulating miRNAs (ci-miRNAs) are endogenous, non-coding RNAs emerging as potential diagnostic biomarkers. Equine miRNAs have been previously identified including subsets of tissue-specific miRNAs. In order t...

    Authors: B. A. McGivney, M. E. Griffin, K. F. Gough, C. L. McGivney, J. A. Browne, E. W. Hill and L. M. Katz

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2017 13:347

    Content type: Research article

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  34. A higher prevalence of inherited disorders among companion animals are often rooted in their historical restricted artificial selection for a variety of observed phenotypes that eventually decreased genetic di...

    Authors: Fabiana H. G. Farias, Chad Tomlinson, Jeffrey Labuda, Gerardo Perez-Camargo, Rondo Middleton and Wesley C. Warren

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2017 13:225

    Content type: Research article

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  35. Genome-wide gene expression profiling allows for identification of genes involved in the defense response of the host against pathogens. As presented here, transcriptomic analysis and bioinformatics tools were...

    Authors: Ewa M Kosciuczuk, Paweł Lisowski, Justyna Jarczak, Alicja Majewska, Magdalena Rzewuska, Lech Zwierzchowski and Emilia Bagnicka

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2017 13:161

    Content type: Research article

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  36. Renal syndromes are occasionally reported in domestic animals. Two identical twin Tyrolean Grey calves exhibited weight loss, skeletal abnormalities and delayed development associated with kidney abnormalities...

    Authors: Leonardo Murgiano, Vidhya Jagannathan, Christian Piffer, Inmaculada Diez-Prieto, Marilena Bolcato, Arcangelo Gentile and Cord Drögemüller

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:276

    Content type: Research article

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  37. In this work we aimed at sequencing and assembling the goat milk transcriptome corresponding at colostrum and 120 days of lactation. To reconstruct transcripts we used both the genome as reference, and a de novo ...

    Authors: Alessandra Crisà, Fabrizio Ferrè, Giovanni Chillemi and Bianca Moioli

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:264

    Content type: Research article

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  38. Spinocerebellar ataxia also referred to as hereditary ataxia comprises different forms of progressive neurodegenerative diseases. A complex mode of inheritance was most likely in Parson Russell Terriers (PRT) ...

    Authors: Alana Christina Gast, Julia Metzger, Andrea Tipold and Ottmar Distl

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:225

    Content type: Research article

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  39. Mastitis resistance is a complex and multifactorial trait, and its expression depends on both genetic and environmental factors, including infection pressure. The objective of this research was to determine th...

    Authors: Marco Tolone, Cristian Larrondo, José M. Yáñez, Scott Newman, Maria Teresa Sardina and Baldassare Portolano

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:158

    Content type: Research article

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  40. Congenital sensorineural deafness (CSD) is the most common type of deafness in dogs and it occurs in numerous canine breeds including the English bull terrier. This study estimates prevalence, heritability and...

    Authors: Luisa De Risio, Julia Freeman and Thomas Lewis

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:146

    Content type: Research article

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  41. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) are fatal neurodegenerative diseases of several mammalian species, including humans. In Italy, the active surveillance through rapid tests on brain stem from sma...

    Authors: Maria Vitale, Sergio Migliore, Maria La Giglia, Placido Alberti, Vincenzo Di Marco Lo Presti and Jan P. M. Langeveld

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:141

    Content type: Research article

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  42. The release of new DNA-based diagnostic tools has increased tremendously in companion animals. Over 70 different DNA variants are now known for the cat, including DNA variants in disease-associated genes and g...

    Authors: Leslie A. Lyons, Robert A. Grahn, Francesca Genova, Michela Beccaglia, John J. Hopwood and Maria Longeri

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:136

    Content type: Debate

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  43. Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is one of the most common congenital heart defects in dogs and is considered to be a complex, polygenic threshold trait for which a female sex predisposition has been described. ...

    Authors: Marjolein L. den Toom, Agnes E. Meiling, Rachel E. Thomas, Peter A. J. Leegwater and Henri C. M. Heuven

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:105

    Content type: Research article

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  44. Lethal chondrodysplasia (bulldog syndrome) is a well-known congenital syndrome in cattle and occurs sporadically in many breeds. In 2015, it was noticed that about 12 % of the offspring of the phenotypically n...

    Authors: Jørgen S. Agerholm, Fiona Menzi, Fintan J. McEvoy, Vidhya Jagannathan and Cord Drögemüller

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:100

    Content type: Research article

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  45. GM1 and GM2 gangliosidoses are progressive neurodegenerative lysosomal storage diseases resulting from the excessive accumulation of GM1 and GM2 gangliosides in the lysosomes, respectively. The diagnosis of ga...

    Authors: Moeko Kohyama, Akira Yabuki, Kenji Ochiai, Yuya Nakamoto, Kazuyuki Uchida, Daisuke Hasegawa, Kimimasa Takahashi, Hiroaki Kawaguchi, Masaya Tsuboi and Osamu Yamato

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:67

    Content type: Methodology article

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  46. A clear association of amino acid variation in the prion protein gene (PRNP) with susceptibility and resistance to classical scrapie exists in sheep, but not in goats. In this study we examined DNA sequence varia...

    Authors: Vythegi Srithayakumar, Gordon B. Mitchell and Bradley N. White

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:59

    Content type: Research article

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  47. Staphylococcus aureus is an important human opportunistic pathogen residing on skin and mucosae of healthy people. Pigs have been identified as a source of human colonization and infec...

    Authors: Per Skallerup, Carmen Espinosa-Gongora, Claus B. Jørgensen, Luca Guardabassi and Merete Fredholm

    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2015 11:290

    Content type: Research article

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