Scientists are beginning to research how dairy cows can be bred to resist infection from bovine TB.
Professors Liz Glass, Stephen Bishop and John Woolliams from The Roslin Institute in Edinburgh will work with Professor Michael Coffey from Scotland’s Rural College on the project.
It is one of seven that will be carried out after £4m of funding was pledged for research into livestock health improvements. Studies have also been announced for the pig, poultry and sheep sectors.
Dr Celia Caulcott, BBSRC’s director of innovation and skills, said: “Livestock diseases cost UK farmers and the wider economy millions of pounds a year, pose welfare problems for farmed animals and negatively affect food security.”
The grants represent the first round of awards in a five-year partnership between BBSRC, The Scottish Government and a consortium of leading companies from the animal breeding, animal health and farming sectors.
They include Aviagen, Bpex, Centre for Dairy Information, Cobb, DairyCo, Eblex, Genus, Merial, Moredun Scientific, MSD Animal Health, the Scottish Salmon Producer’s Organisation and Zoetis.
Dr Helen Ferrier, NFU Chief Science and Regulatory Affairs Advisor, said: “We are very pleased that the BBSRC is earmarking this funding for animal health research.
“Science like this is critical to understanding and finding solutions to disease in livestock, which affects the welfare of our animals, reduces the productivity and resilience of farm businesses, and is costly for farmers and wider society.
“Animal health must be tackled with all the tools available including genetic improvement, vaccines, nutrition and husbandry. Much of this science will take many years to make a commercial impact but we support the BBSRC Research Club concept that aims to move more quickly from the fundamental science to application by involving partners from academia and industry.”
The projects
Study: Engineering resistance to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus
Funding: £540,127 plus £240,000 from Genus and £63,000 from Recombinetics
Studies have shown a receptor called SRCR CD163 plays a crucial role as the PRRS virus enters cells of the immune system during infection. To investigate if resistance to PRRS can be genetically engineered in pigs the researchers will focus on the manipulation of the CD163 gene.
Study: Reducing the risk of vaccine reversion in chickens
Funding: £342,882 plus £99,700 of ‘in kind’ funding from Zoetis
Using genetic sequencing technology, researchers will study the molecular changes that occur during vaccine production for infectious bronchitis. This will reveal how a mixed population of virus changes during manufacture and the extent to which individual viruses can mutate, potentially identifying ways to improve the vaccine design process.
Study: Restriction of avian viruses by host proteins
Funding: £618,602
Recent evidence shows a family of proteins produced in human cells can limit the entry and replication of several dangerous human viruses, including the flu virus. Researchers hope to identify the chicken versions of these proteins that give protection, both in laboratory and commercial chickens.
Study: Understanding resistance and vaccine responses to Eimeria in chickens
Funding: £713,383
Coccidiosis, caused by the parasite Eimeria, is controlled primarily through the use of drugs. Vaccines exist, but are currently not a cheap or practical solution to replace these drugs. Researchers plan to genetically map disease resistance and differential responses to vaccines, using modern techniques.
Study: Genomic selection for bovine TB resistance in dairy cows
Funding: £829,790
Cattle differ genetically in their risk of bTB, creating the possibility of genetic selection for decreased risk of infection. Researchers will use large datasets from cattle herds in the UK and Republic of Ireland to develop genomic predictors of bTB infection, which could be used to breed cattle for bTB resistance.
Study: Are microbiomes important to mammary gland health in dairy cows?
Funding: £504,634
Every year around 30% of cows suffer from mastitis and about 25% die or are culled. Researchers will analyse 13,000 milk samples from 200 cows and identify all bacteria present. They will investigate how the microbial community forms and changes over time and conditions, and whether it remains stable if disturbed by disease and treatment.
Study: The influence of selective breeding on MHC diversity
Funding: £449,211
In sheep one of the most important genetic regions concerning disease susceptibility is called the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which plays an important role in resistance to roundworm. Scientists will test the hypothesis that an individual with a pair of similar genes will have lower disease resistance than an individual with dissimilar genes.