Genome Sequencing Completed For Major Dairy Cattle Microbe
AMES, lowa—U.S. Department of Agriculture
and University of Minnesota scientists have se
quenced the genome of the bacterium that causes
Johne’s disease, a devastating ailment that pri
marily afflicts dairy cattle.
The bacterium, Mycobacterium paratuberculosis,
is among the biggest threats worldwide to the health
of dairy cattle and other ruminant species such as
deer and goats.
“This represents a major research breakthrough
that could speed the development of new ways to
detect and ultimately eliminate Johne’s disease,”
said Undersecretary for Research, Education and
Economics Joseph Jen. He chairs the U.S. Intera
gency Working Group on Domestic Animal
Genomics.
Johne’s is a chronic and potentially fatal intesti
nal disorder that brings about severe diarrhea and
weight loss in infected cattle. It is found in eight
percent of beef herds and 22 percent of dairy herds
in the United States.
The sequencing was achieved at two locations:
the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) National
Animal Disease Center in Ames, lowa, under mi
crobiologist John P. Bannantine; and the University
of Minnesota’s Advanced Genetics Analysis Center
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Lebanon Valley Implement Co., Inc.
700 E. Linden Street, Richland, PA 17087 717-866-7518
under the leadership of its director, Vivek Kapur, a
faculty member of the university’s medical school
and College of Veterinary Medicine.
Kapur received a National Research Initiative
(NRI) Competitive Grant for the research. NRI
grants are administered by USDA’s Cooperative
State Research, Education and Extension Service
(CSREES).
While CSREES is the extramural research arm of
USDA, ARS conducts the department’s intramural
scientific research.
Kapur said several genes discovered during the
sequencing may help differentiate M. paratubercu
losis from other closely related bacterial species. “I
believe the genomes sequence’s availability will pro-
vide a much-needed boost to research toward the
detection of the disease, the development of vac
cines and the ultimate eradication of the disease,”
he said.
M. paratuberculosis’ slow growth—it takes up to
six months to identify in laboratory culture—
impedes both the diagnosis of infected animals and
lab-based research on the microbe. “The genome se
quence may enable us to not only to understand
why this pathogen grows so slowly, but to identify it
more rapidly,” said Bannantine.
MODEL
cu/ft.
iacit’
Overall Height
82”
Overall Length
Discharge Height
22”-48”
Conve’
36"
tor Width
ter Elites
Side Wall
3/16”
Floor Thickness
Horsei
60 min
tower
2 speed gear box
N/A
Weight (Empty
6,290
3000
4100
300
410
93”
192”
216”
28”-54”
36”
1/2”
5/8”
1/4”
1/2”
3/4”
70 mm
option
8,790
5600
6700
560
670
100”
216’
292”
28”-54’
26”
36”
Dual 103”
5/8”
5/8”
1/4”
1/4”
3/4”
3/4”
80 mm
90 mm
standard
standard
9,560
15,840