A.J. Teale

A medium-density genetic linkage map of the bovine genome

A cattle genetic linkage map was constructed which covers more than 95 percent of the bovine genome at medium density. Seven hundred and forty six DNA polymorphisms were genotyped in cattle families which comprise 347 individuals in full sibling pedigrees. Seven hundred and three of the loci are linked to at least one other locus. All linkage groups are assigned to chromosomes, and all are orientated with regards to the centromere. There is little overall difference in the lengths of the bull and cow linkage maps although there are individual differences between maps of chromosomes. One hundred and sixty polymorphisms are in or near genes, and the resultant genome-wide comparative analyses indicate that while there is greater conservation of synteny between cattle and humans compared with mice, the conservation of gene order between cattle and humans is much less than would be expected from the conservation of synteny. This map provides a basis for high-resolution mapping of the bovine genome with physical resources such as Yeast and Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes as well as providing the underpinning for the interpolation of information from the Human Genome Project.USDA-MARC family and data for validating this family. P. Creighton, C. Skidmore, T. Holm, and A. Georgoudis provided some validation data for the BOVMAP families. R. Fries, S. Johnson, S. Solinas Toldo, and A. Mezzelani kindly made some of their FISH assignments available before publication. We wish to thank all those researchers who kindly sent us probes and DNA primers.

CYTOTOXIC T-CELLS ELICITED IN CATTLE CHALLENGED WITH THEILERIA-PARVA (MUGUGA) - EVIDENCE FOR RESTRICTION BY CLASS-I MHC DETERMINANTS AND PARASITE STRAIN SPECIFICITY

Summary The MHC restriction and parasite strain specificity of cytotoxic cells elicited in a group of Theileria parva (Muguga)‐immunized cattle following homologous challenge, were investigated. The cytotoxic cells were specific for parasitized target cells and in 9 of the 10 animals examined, they were clearly genetically restricted. Cytotoxicity could be inhibited by monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) to class I MHC molecules but not by MoAb to class II molecules, indicating that a large component of the response was restricted by class I MHC determinants. Low levels of inhibition of cytotoxicity were also obtained with a MoAb to the T‐cell subset marker BoT8, suggesting that at least part of the response was mediated by BoT8+ lymphocytes. When cytotoxic cells from individual cattle were assayed on panels of parasitized target cells, there was a close correlation between susceptibility of the target cells to lysis and sharing of BoLA‐A locus‐encoded specificities with the effectors. This observation, taken together with the knowledge that within several of the sets of BoLA‐A‐matched targets the relevant BoLA‐A specificities were on different MHC haplotypes, indicated that the responses were restricted predominantly by BoLA‐A products.

Cell-mediated immune responses of cattle to Theileria parva.

Theileria parva is a protozoan parasite that infects lymphocytes of cattle and African buffalo. As is the case with certain viruses, the parasite causes antigenic changes on the cell surface against which the host mounts cytotoxic T-cell. Precise definition of the cells participating in these response and their specificity has been facilitated by the recent identification of markers for bovine T-cell subpopulations and functional analyses of bovine lymphocytes at the clonal level. In this paper Ivan Morrison and his colleagues discuss current information on the parasite specificity and MHC restriction of anti-Theileria cytotoxic T cell, in relation to their role in protective immunity.

Phenotypic and functional characteristics of bovine T lymphocytes

Monoclonal antibodies have been derived which detect the bovine equivalents of the human pan-T cell marker CD2 and the T lymphocyte subpopulation markers CD4 and CD8. We refer to the bovine analogues as BoT2, BoT4 and BoT8. Monoclonal antibodies have also been derived which detect an antigen(s) with similarities to CD3, although the precise nature of the target molecule(s) in this instance remains to be elucidated. In general there is close similarity between the tissue distributions and, where these have been determined, the molecular masses of the BoT2, BoT4, BoT8 and putative BoT3 entities and their counterparts in other species. BoT2 is expressed on a majority of peripheral blood T lymphocytes and thymocytes and BoT2+ cells are found in both thymic cortex and medulla. In contrast, the putative BoT3 marker is expressed by a minority of thymocytes which are moreover, largely restricted to medulla. Monoclonal antibodies detecting BoT2 determinants have been shown to precipitate 55 kDa molecules. Antibodies to the BoT2 and BoT3 entities have been shown to induce proliferation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of some cattle, and to be capable of inhibition of antigen-driven proliferative responses and cytolytic function. The BoT4 and BoT8 markers are expressed in a mutually exclusive manner by bovine peripheral blood mononuclear cells but they are coexpressed on a large population of thymocytes. Monoclonal antibodies have been used to precipitate molecules of 52 and 55 kDa in the case of those detecting BoT4 and 34 and 35 kDa in the case of an antibody reactive with a BoT8 determinant. The BoT4 and BoT8 markers have been associated with specificity for, and restriction by, MHC class II and class I molecules respectively.

A monoclonal antibody which reacts specifically with a population of bovine lymphocytes lacking B cell and T cell markers

In the last few years a number of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) specific for bovine T lymphocytes has been produced. These include antibodies which react with the sheep erythrocyte receptor (designated BoT2) (Davis et al., in press) and thus can be used as pan-T cell markers, and antibodies to the two major subset markers BoT4 and B0T8 (Baldwin et al., 1986; Ellis et al., 1986). When these antibodies are used, in conjunction with reagents that identify B lymphocytes and monocytes, to phenotype bovine leukocytes, there is a residual population of lymphocytes comprising 10–20% of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) that is unreactive with these reagents. Recently, we have produced a MAb that reacts with a proportion of these “null” lymphocytes. Herein, we will summarise our findings with this antibody.

Differential in vitro and in vivo expression of MHC class II antigens in bovine lymphocytes infected by Theileria parva

The expression of major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) non-polymorphic antigens detected by four monoclonal antibodies was investigated in Theileria parva-infected and non-infected cloned lymphoid cell lines, bulk cultures, and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and lymph node cells (LNC) of experimentally infected calves. Compared with non-infected cell lines, both immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytofluorometry analysis of infected lines of alpha beta T-cell, gamma delta T-cell and B-cell origin revealed high expression of MHC II MHC molecules. After T. parva infection in vitro, three alloreactive T cell clones, three interleukin-2 (IL-2)-dependent cell lines and a concanavalin A (Con A)-stimulated bulk culture all had an increase both in the proportion of MHC II+ cells and in their mean fluorescence intensity. Radioimmunoprecipitation of class II molecules biosynthesized in infected and non-infected cells revealed that they were constitutively produced in infected cells, and were a slightly larger relative mass than the MHC II molecules of uninfected cells. In a study of the serial expression of MHC II antigens in PBMC and LNC of six calves inoculated with a lethal dose of T.parva, MHC II expression by non-parasitized cells peaked at Days 7 (LNC) or 9 (PBMC) following inoculation and, subsequently, MHC II non-expressing parasitized lymphocytes progressively outnumbered MHC II-expressing parasitized cells. In two calves studied in detail, MHC II expression in PBMC and LNC generally, and in T cells particularly, increased during the course of the disease. Finally, among LNC sorted for MHC II expression at 11 and 17 days after parasite inoculation, the proportion of parasitized cells increased markedly in MHC II non-expressing populations and was reduced or increased only slightly in MHC II-expressing populations. These findings indicate that: (1) enhanced MHC II antigen expression by parasitized lymphocytes may be important in the pathogenesis of the lymphoproliferation that characterizes T. parva infection; (2) the in vivo preponderance of MHC II non-expressing over MHC II-expressing T. parva-infected cells may reflect host-mediated destruction or antigenic modulation of parasitized MHC II-expressing cells.

Sensitivity of segregation analysis to data structure and transformation: a case study of trypanotolerance in mice

Sensitivity of segregation analysis for data structure and data transformation was studied using data from two trials in which mice were challenged at three months of age with a cloned isolate of Trypanosoma congolense and survival time was recorded. Data included records from three inbred strains (C57BL/6 (tolerant), A/J, and BALB/c (both susceptible)) and their crosses. Data were standardized and normalized using a modified power transformation. Segregation analysis was applied to both untransformed and transformed data to determine the genetic inheritance of trypanotolerance in these mice. Data from the two trials were analysed separately and combined. Four genetic models were compared; a one locus model, a polygenic model, a mixed model with common variance, and a mixed model with different variances for each major genotype. Even though the separate data sets and the combined data set all supported the hypothesis of a major gene (or a tightly linked cluster of genes) with different variances within each genotype, parameter estimates were highly sensitive to data transformation and several sets of parameter estimates gave similar likelihood values because of high dependency between parameters. Based on the results segregation analysis can be very sensitive to data structure in a crossbreeding design and to data transformation. Interpretation of the results can be misleading if the entire parameter space is not studied carefully.