Häggström, Jens
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2020Peer reviewedOpen access
Yu, Y.; Creighton, E.K.; Buckley, R.M.; Lyons, L.A.; Buckley, R.M.; Aberdein, D.; Alves, P.C.; Barsh, G.S.; Bellone, R.R.; Bergström, T.F.; Boyko, A.R.; Brockman, J.A.; Casal, M.L.; Castelhano, M.G.; Distl, O.; Dodman, N.H.; Ellinwood, N.M.; Fogle, J.E.; Forman, O.P.; Garrick, D.J.;
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An inherited neurologic syndrome in a family of mixed-breed Oriental cats has been characterized as forebrain commissural malformation, concurrent with ventriculomegaly and interhemispheric cysts. However, the genetic basis for this autosomal recessive syndrome in cats is unknown. Forty-three cats were genotyped on the Illumina Infinium Feline 63K iSelect DNA Array and used for analyses. Genome-wide association studies, including a sib-transmission disequilibrium test and a case-control association analysis, and homozygosity mapping, identified a critical region on cat chromosome A3. Short-read whole genome sequencing was completed for a cat trio segregating with the syndrome. A homozygous 7 bp deletion in growth differentiation factor 7 (GDF7) (c.221_227delGCCGCGC [p.Arg74Profs]) was identified in affected cats, by comparison to the 99 Lives Cat variant dataset, validated using Sanger sequencing and genotyped by fragment analyses. This variant was not identified in 192 unaffected cats in the 99 Lives dataset. The variant segregated concordantly in an extended pedigree. In mice, GDF7 mRNA is expressed within the roof plate when commissural axons initiate ventrally-directed growth. This finding emphasized the importance of GDF7 in the neurodevelopmental process in the mammalian brain. A genetic test can be developed for use by cat breeders to eradicate this variant.
feline; Felis catus; brain malformation; BMP12; neurodevelopment; genetics; genomics; mendelian traits; genome-wide association study; whole genome sequencing
Genes
2020, volume: 11, number: 6, article number: 672
Publisher: MDPI AG
Clinical Science
Genetics and Genomics
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/129827