Polymorphisms of the ovine prion protein (PrP) Gene in the Pramenka Sheep Breed Population(s) in Bosnia and Herzegovina - Kupreski Strain

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) is a group of diseases that affects nervous system, and which leads to death. Scrapie is an infectious disease of sheep and goats that belongs to this TSE group and with always fatal outcome. The putative infectious agent is the host-encoded prion protein (PrP) and it appears that the development of scrapie in sheep is closely related to polymorphisms in the host PrP gene. The aim of this study was to investigate three well-known polymorphisms in exon 3 of the PrP gene (on chromosome 13) that have a clear and significant effect on scrapie in sheep (at codons 136, 154 and 171), but also to investigate four other polymorphisms in exon 3 (at codons 145, 185, 231 and 237) that are undefined yet, but might have some effect on disease. The study was performed on the Bosnian sheep – Pramenka breed, Kupreski strain from central Bosnia. Genomic DNA was isolated from venous blood and then a 628 bp long DNA fragment from exon 3 was amplified using the PCR method. The results from this study indicate the presence of nine different genotypes associated with susceptibility of scrapie in investigated Bosnian sheep population(s). Five haplotypes were found.