Association mapping of genetic risk factors for chronic wasting disease in wild deer

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal transmissible spongiform encephalopathy affecting North American cervids. We assessed the feasibility of association mapping CWD genetic risk factors in wild white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) using a panel of bovine microsatellite markers from three homologous deer linkage groups predicted to contain candidate genes. These markers had a low cross-species amplification rate (27.9%) and showed weak linkage disequilibrium (<1 cM). Markers near the prion protein and the neurofibromin 1 (NF1) genes were suggestively associated with CWD status in white-tailed deer (P = 0.006) and mule deer (P = 0.02), respectively. This is the first time an association between the NF1 region and CWD has been reported.

慢性消耗病（Chronic wasting disease, CWD）是一种可感染北美鹿科动物的致命性传染性海绵状脑病。本研究评估了利用一组源自三个同源鹿连锁群的牛源微卫星标记（microsatellite markers），对野生白尾鹿（Odocoileus virginianus）和骡鹿（Odocoileus hemionus）中与CWD相关的遗传风险因素进行关联定位的可行性，这三个连锁群被预测包含候选基因。该标记的跨物种扩增率较低（27.9%），且连锁不平衡（linkage disequilibrium）程度较弱（<1厘摩（cM））。分别在白尾鹿（P=0.006）和骡鹿（P=0.02）中，朊蛋白基因（prion protein）与神经纤维蛋白1（neurofibromin 1, NF1）基因附近的标记，与CWD感染状态存在提示性关联。这是首次报道NF1区域与慢性消耗病之间存在关联。