Mapping a Major Gene for Resistance to Rift Valley Fever Virus in Laboratory Rats. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • The Rift Valley Fever virus (RVFV) presents an epidemic and epizootic threat in sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt, and the Arabian Peninsula, and has furthermore recently gained attention as a potential weapon of bioterrorism due to its ability to infect both livestock and humans. Inbred rat strains show similar characteristic responses to the disease as humans and livestock, making them a suitable model species. Previous studies had indicated differences in susceptibility to RVFV hepatic disease among various rat strains, including a higher susceptibility of Wistar-Furth (WF) compared to a more resistant Lewis (LEW) strain. Further study revealed that this resistance trait exhibits the pattern of a major dominant gene inherited in Mendelian fashion. A genome scan of a congenic WF.LEW strain, created from the susceptible WF and resistant LEW strains and itself resistant to infection with RVFV, revealed 2 potential regions for the location of the gene, 1 on chromosome 3 and the other on chromosome 9. Through backcrossing of WF.LEW rats to WF rats, genotyping offspring using SNPs and microsatellites, and viral challenges of 3 N1 litters, we have mapped the gene to the distal end of chromosome 3.

published proceedings

  • J Hered

altmetric score

  • 0.5

author list (cited authors)

  • Busch, C. M., Callicott, R. J., Peters, C. J., Morrill, J. C., & Womack, J. E.

citation count

  • 5

complete list of authors

  • Busch, Catherine M||Callicott, Ralph J||Peters, Clarence J||Morrill, John C||Womack, James E

publication date

  • January 2015