Studio del gene NRAMP1 in relazione alla tubercolosi bovina

Despite eradication programs, bovine tuberculosis is still a sanitary and economic problem in Italy. A different and interesting solution to the problem is the genetic approach, aimed to identify genetic susceptibility/resistance to the disease. As a candidate gene for bovine tuberculosis resistance we studied NRAMP1 gene, which encodes a protein thought to play some role in the priming of macrophages for activation, which in turn regulates the multiplication of a variety of intracellular pathogens, like M. bovis. To study NRAMP1 in cattle, we both sequenced part of the gene, and analysed three linked microsatellites. One of these markers, AR028 was found to be polymorphic with 7 alleles and a slight significant effect has been found for immunoglobulin production to M. bovis antigens.