Project description:Infection of sheep with Brucella ovis results in ovine brucellosis, a disease characterized by infertility in rams, abortion in ewes and increased perinatal mortality in lambs. During the course of the infection both the ovine immune response and host cell gene expression are modified. The objective of this research was to conduct a preliminary characterization of differential gene expression in rams experimentally infected with B. ovis by microarray hybridization and real-time RT-PCR.
Project description:Infection of sheep with Brucella ovis results in ovine brucellosis, a disease characterized by infertility in rams, abortion in ewes and increased perinatal mortality in lambs. During the course of the infection both the ovine immune response and host cell gene expression are modified. The objective of this research was to conduct a preliminary characterization of differential gene expression in rams experimentally infected with B. ovis by microarray hybridization and real-time RT-PCR. Six hybridizations were conducted using total RNA from three individual infected sheep at 15 and 60 days post infection. In each comparison, the control channels contained total RNA from each of the same three sheep at 0 days post infection. Ratios were calculated as B. ovis-infected sheep at 15 and 60 dpc versus uninfected animals at 0 dpc.
