Identification of key molecular factors involved in resistance/ susceptibility to paratuberculosis infection in indigenous breeds of cows.
Funding Agency: DBT
Amount: 96.2048 lakh
Co-ordinator and PI: Dr. S V Singh, Department of Biotechnology, GLA University, Mathura
Co-PI: Dr.Kundan Kumar Chaubey, Department of Biotechnology, GLA University, Mathura
PI: Dr. Sarwarazam, NIAB, Hyderabad
Duration - 3 Years (2020-2023) Ongoing
Summary: Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) cause of Johne's disease (JD) is endemic in the domestic livestock (cows, buffaloes, goats, sheep etc.). JD is chronic, insidious and incurable in nature, results in granulomatous enteritis, leading to diarrhea, progressive weight loss and wasting, emaciation and death. It leads to high morbidity leading to huge economic losses due to reduced productivity, premature culling, increased veterinary costs, increased susceptibility etc. Early detection of infection and removal by culling, segregation and vaccination of infected animals are some of the technologies used to control the disease. However, cows cannot be culled in India for religious reasons. To unravel the host cell factors responsible for imparting resistance/ susceptibilityto MAP infection, genome wide profiling of host genes using RNA-seq and SNPs analysis will help to identify cows with potentially higher resistance for retention and multiplication for breeding purposes.