A lethal disease of the European bison – posthitis is conditionally determined by its genomics
Abstract Posthitis is an incurable lethal disease of males of the European bison (Bison bonasus), regarded to be one of the major threats to the survival of the iconic species. Multiple attempts have been undertaken over the last 30 years to identify a source of infection and a primary pathogen. Stu...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-02-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-88702-0 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1823862301437984768 |
|---|---|
| author | Sazia Kunvar Sylwia Czarnomska Cino Pertoldi Astrid V. Stronen Iwona Ruczyńska Małgorzata Tokarska |
| author_facet | Sazia Kunvar Sylwia Czarnomska Cino Pertoldi Astrid V. Stronen Iwona Ruczyńska Małgorzata Tokarska |
| author_sort | Sazia Kunvar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Posthitis is an incurable lethal disease of males of the European bison (Bison bonasus), regarded to be one of the major threats to the survival of the iconic species. Multiple attempts have been undertaken over the last 30 years to identify a source of infection and a primary pathogen. Studies indicated the disease could have a genetic background after tools developed for cattle (Bos taurus) revealed genomic regions that could be associated with its occurrence. In this study, we applied deep coverage targeted sequencing to 74 regions on 10 of the bison’s chromosomes (1, 9, 12, 13, 15, 23, 25, 26, 29, and X) in search for species-specific single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers that could help to explain the mechanism of the disease and be used to test for posthitis susceptibility. The association results were ranked based on p-values lower than 0.005 and odds ratios (OR) higher than 1. We obtained 30 SNP markers that met these requirements, all located on chromosome 25. However, none of the SNPs found in the study was significantly associated with posthitis occurrence after Bonferroni correction. The conditional nature of posthitis and ‘false negative’ sampling represent major difficulties in investigating this disease, and we recommend a complex genomic and environmental factors association assay that could eventually explain the puzzling etiology of posthitis and help mitigate this threat to the European bison. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5d9d2deb0f6c46a1a89564eac675b9eb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-5d9d2deb0f6c46a1a89564eac675b9eb2025-02-09T12:34:31ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-02-0115111110.1038/s41598-025-88702-0A lethal disease of the European bison – posthitis is conditionally determined by its genomicsSazia Kunvar0Sylwia Czarnomska1Cino Pertoldi2Astrid V. Stronen3Iwona Ruczyńska4Małgorzata Tokarska5Mammal Research Institute PASMuseum and Institute of Zoology PASDepartment of Chemistry and Bioscience, Section of Bioscience and Engineering, Aalborg UniversityDepartment of Biology, Chair of Ecology and Environment Conservation, University of LjublianaMammal Research Institute PASMammal Research Institute PASAbstract Posthitis is an incurable lethal disease of males of the European bison (Bison bonasus), regarded to be one of the major threats to the survival of the iconic species. Multiple attempts have been undertaken over the last 30 years to identify a source of infection and a primary pathogen. Studies indicated the disease could have a genetic background after tools developed for cattle (Bos taurus) revealed genomic regions that could be associated with its occurrence. In this study, we applied deep coverage targeted sequencing to 74 regions on 10 of the bison’s chromosomes (1, 9, 12, 13, 15, 23, 25, 26, 29, and X) in search for species-specific single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers that could help to explain the mechanism of the disease and be used to test for posthitis susceptibility. The association results were ranked based on p-values lower than 0.005 and odds ratios (OR) higher than 1. We obtained 30 SNP markers that met these requirements, all located on chromosome 25. However, none of the SNPs found in the study was significantly associated with posthitis occurrence after Bonferroni correction. The conditional nature of posthitis and ‘false negative’ sampling represent major difficulties in investigating this disease, and we recommend a complex genomic and environmental factors association assay that could eventually explain the puzzling etiology of posthitis and help mitigate this threat to the European bison.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-88702-0Target enrichment sequencingGenome-wide association studiesGenome analysis tool kit (GATK)Species survivalEuropean bison conservation |
| spellingShingle | Sazia Kunvar Sylwia Czarnomska Cino Pertoldi Astrid V. Stronen Iwona Ruczyńska Małgorzata Tokarska A lethal disease of the European bison – posthitis is conditionally determined by its genomics Scientific Reports Target enrichment sequencing Genome-wide association studies Genome analysis tool kit (GATK) Species survival European bison conservation |
| title | A lethal disease of the European bison – posthitis is conditionally determined by its genomics |
| title_full | A lethal disease of the European bison – posthitis is conditionally determined by its genomics |
| title_fullStr | A lethal disease of the European bison – posthitis is conditionally determined by its genomics |
| title_full_unstemmed | A lethal disease of the European bison – posthitis is conditionally determined by its genomics |
| title_short | A lethal disease of the European bison – posthitis is conditionally determined by its genomics |
| title_sort | lethal disease of the european bison posthitis is conditionally determined by its genomics |
| topic | Target enrichment sequencing Genome-wide association studies Genome analysis tool kit (GATK) Species survival European bison conservation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-88702-0 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT saziakunvar alethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics AT sylwiaczarnomska alethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics AT cinopertoldi alethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics AT astridvstronen alethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics AT iwonaruczynska alethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics AT małgorzatatokarska alethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics AT saziakunvar lethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics AT sylwiaczarnomska lethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics AT cinopertoldi lethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics AT astridvstronen lethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics AT iwonaruczynska lethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics AT małgorzatatokarska lethaldiseaseoftheeuropeanbisonposthitisisconditionallydeterminedbyitsgenomics |