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Development of Genetic Markers for Immune Defence and Resistance in the Porcine Respiratory Tract; Project part 8; Microarray-Analyse
Project
Project code: 0313389E
Contract period: 01.07.2005
- 30.06.2008
Budget: 184,226 Euro
Purpose of research: Basic research
The consortium IRAS aims at the development of genetic markers for immune defense and resistance in the porcine respiratory tract. Infections of the respiratory tract pose a severe economic problem. Pig farmers alone are spending more than Euro 1 billion per year on the control of these infections which, to date, is mainly carried out by antibiotic herd treatment and vaccination. Genetic selection of animals towards a reduced susceptibility to infections of the respiratory tract has not been accomplished to date. This is mainly due to i) the lack of appropriate selectable markers facilitating a specific selection and ii) the difficulties involved in reproducible experimental infections of pigs with respiratory tract pathogens. IRAS will use a defined Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae aerosol infection model to systematically screen for phenotypic and genetic markers facilitating the breeding selection of pigs for an enhanced resistance against respiratory tract infections. Since general mechanisms of immune defence are unlikely to be organ-system- or host-specific, the markers to be developed might be of general use for breeding selection of livestock in general with respect to an increased resistance against infections.
Section overview
Subjects
- Animal health
Collaborative Project
Framework programme
BMBF - Frameworkprogramm Biotechnology - Using and Shaping its Opportunities