Genetic Predisposition to the Chronic Wasting Disease of Reindeer Rangifer tarandus of the European North of Russia
To assess the potential genetic susceptibility to the deadly prion infection of chronic wasting disease (CWD), the nucleotide sequences of the prion protein gene were obtained for three regional wild and two domestic reindeer herds in the European North of Russia. Seven single nucleotide polymorphisms were found, corresponding to substitutions in the six codons of the prion protein (PrP) – 2 (V/ M), 129 (G/S), 138 (S/N), 169 (V/M), 176 (N/D) and 225 (S/Y), and six PrP protein alleles were described. Genotypes with asparagine (N) in codon 138 (138NN and 138SN) associated with increased resistance to CWD infection in herds of wild reindeer from Novaya Zemlya, Kola Peninsula and forest regions of the Arkhangelsk Region and the Republic of Komi were found in 8.7, 14.3 and 18.2% of animals. The frequency of occurrence of these genotypes in domestic deer of the Komi Republic and Kolguev isl. was higher – 37.5 and 42.1%, respectively. Due to the predominance of PrP genotypes with serine in codon 138 (138SS), associated with the increased susceptibility to CWD infection, as well as the occurrence of this disease among reindeer, moose and red deer in Scandinavia, there is a real threat of spreading of CWD among reindeer in the European part of Russia.