Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in heat stress protein 70 (HSP70) and 90 (HSP90) with the susceptibility of Pakistani sheep breeds to hemoparasitic infections

Abstract

The present study was designed to report the genotypic and allelic frequency of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at 222 G > A in HSP70 and at ex6-7390T22G in the HSP90 gene of 204 sheep (Baluchi = 11, Kajli = 29, Latti = 06 and Mundri = 158) enrolled from District Rajanpur in Punjab and to report the susceptibility of these sheep to the blood-borne parasitic infection. The tetra-primer amplification refractory mutation system–polymerase chain reaction (T-ARMS–PCR) approach revealed a significant variation (p < 0.001) in the genotype frequency of four enrolled sheep breeds at SNP 222 G > A in the HSP70 gene while the allelic frequency remained unaffected (p = 0.08). In all sheep breeds, GG (wild) genotype was most common. T-ARMS–PCR analysis revealed a similar trend for ex6-7390T22G in the HSP90 gene and it was observed that sheep had significantly higher wild-type (GG) (p < 0.05) at the studied SNPs. Studied epidemiological factors (sex and sampling sites) were not found associated with both SNPs. Chi-square test revealed that no specific genotype and allelic frequency at 222 G > A in HSP70 and at ex6-7390T22G in the HSP90 gene of the enrolled sheep breed was associated with the susceptibility to blood-borne parasitic infection (p > 0.05). In conclusion, we are reporting that Pakistan is blessed to have majority of sheep, from all breeds, having wild genotype at analyzed SNPs in heat stress genes. We highly recommend the genotypic screening of sheep before their selection as breeders to reduce the possibility of having sheep with polymorphic genotypes at 222 G > A in HSP70 and at 7390T22G in HSP90 genes that will improve the profitability and sustainability of animal production systems in Pakistan.

Keywords:

• HSP70 gene
• HSP90 gene
• SNPs
• T-ARMS–PCR
• sheep susceptibility

Acknowledgment

No specific research grant was available for this project.

Ethical approval

Ethical Research Committee of the Institute of Pure and Applied Biology at Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan (Pakistan) approved all the animal handling procedures and laboratory protocols applied in this study via letter number IPAB/Ethics/46/2021. Informed consent was obtained from all the livestock owners before including their animals in this study.

Authors’ contributions

F.I. designed and supervised this study. M.S., F.U.D. and M.S.U.N. collected blood and basic epidemiological data from the subjects. M.S., F.U.D., S.R., B.S. and G.M. extracted DNA from the blood samples and performed PCRs. F.I. and M.F. analyzed the data. F.I. prepared the manuscript and all the authors revised and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All the data generated during this study is presented in the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.