Ovine footrot caused by Dichelobacter nodosus (D. nodosus) is a contagious disease with serious economic and welfare impacts in sheep production systems worldwide. A better understanding of the host genetic architecture regarding footrot resistance/susceptibility is crucial to develop disease control strategies that efficiently reduce infection and its severity. A genome-wide association study was performed usi...
This is the first attempt to identify molecular markers associated with footrot in Portuguese Merino sheep. These findings provide relevant information on a likely genetic association underlying footrot resistance/susceptibility and the potential candidate genes affecting this trait. Genetic selection strategies assisted on the information obtained from this study could enhance Merino sheep-breeding programs, i...
In the Portuguese Alentejo region, Merino sheep breed is the most common breed, reared for the production of meat, dairy, and wool. Footrot is responsible for lameness, decreased animal welfare, and higher production losses, generating a negative economic impact. The disease is caused by Dichelobacter nodosus that interacts with the sheep foot microbiome, to date largely uncharacterized. In fact, Dichelobacter ...
A peeira influencia negativamente diversos aspetos da ovinicultura e tem grande impacto económico e social em diversos países produtores de ovinos de ambos os hemisférios, particularmente na indústria da lã fina, amplamente dominada pelas raças Merinas. Com este trabalho pretendeu-se estimar componentes de variância associados à peeira em ovinos das raças Merina Branca (MB) e Merina Preta (MP), tendo sido reali...
A peeira é uma doença bastante contagiosa que afeta a extremidade distal dos membros dos ruminantes, sendo os ovinos os mais suscetíveis. Esta doença tem uma enorme relevância do ponto de vista económico e de bem estar animal, já tendo sido reportada em grande parte dos países que se dedicam à produção de ovinos. Existem poucos dados publicados sobre a prevalência e risco da doença no Alentejo.Os objetivos dest...