Research: Genetic Susceptibility to Rhodococcus equi

The Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine has published an open access article on Wiley Online Library titled, “Genetic Susceptibility to Rhodococcus equi.” This review was done by researchers at Texas A&M University. You can read it online or download a PDF of the article.

Abstract

Rhodococcus equi pneumonia is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in neonatal foals. Much effort has been made to identify preventative measures and new treatments for R. equi with limited success. With a growing focus in the medical community on understanding the genetic basis of disease susceptibility, investigators have begun to evaluate the interaction of the genetics of the foal with R. equi. This review describes past efforts to understand the genetic basis underlying R. equi susceptibility and tolerance. It also highlights the genetic technology available to study horses and describes the use of this technology in investigating R. equi. This review provides readers with a foundational understanding of candidate gene approaches, single nucleotide polymorphism-based, and copy number variant-based genome-wide association studies, and next generation sequencing (both DNA and RNA).

Authors

C.M. McQueen, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; S.V. Dindot, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX; N.D. Cohen, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.