Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T03:24:16.032Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Biochemical differences in Merino sheep selected for resistance against gastro-intestinal nematodes and genetic and nutritional effects on faecal worm egg output

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

S. M. Liu ,
T. L. Smith ,
D. G. Palmer ,
L. J. E. Karlsson ,
R. B. Besier  and
J. C. Greeff
S. M. Liu*
Affiliation:
CSIRO Livestock Industries, Private Bag 5, PO Wembley, WA 6913, Australia
T. L. Smith
Affiliation:
CSIRO Livestock Industries, Private Bag 5, PO Wembley, WA 6913, Australia
D. G. Palmer
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture of Western Australia, Locked Bag 4, Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983, Australia
L. J. E. Karlsson
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture of Western Australia, Locked Bag 4, Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983, Australia
R. B. Besier
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture of Western Australia, Locked Bag 4, Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983, Australia
J. C. Greeff
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture of Western Australia, Locked Bag 4, Bentley Delivery Centre WA 6983, Australia
*
†E-mail: shimin.liu@csiro.au
Get access

Abstract

The faecal egg count (FEC) and total egg output is reduced in parasite-resistant sheep and breeding sheep for resistance should reduce infective larval contamination of pastures. This research compares lambs and rams from the parasite-resistant flock, Rylington Merinos, with unselected controls at the same level of larval challenge and the same level of food supply in an animal-house environment. The sheep were penned individually. The parasite resistant sheep excreted 0·85-fold less eggs than the control animals after infection with Trichostrongylus colubriformis and Ostertagia circumcincta for 12 or 18 weeks. During the infection period the parasite resistant lambs had higher plasma immunoglobulin concentration and higher ratio of globulin to albumin than the control animals. In the mature rams these genotype differences diminished. They also had lighter mass of the small intestine with a higher proportion of mucosa, but heavier mass of the large intestine. Parasite infection caused a depletion of blood glutathione in the lambs given food at maintenance or 1·5 × maintenance, and the parasite-resistant sheep (both lambs and rams) also had lower glutathione concentration. Maintaining good body nutrient reserve before the infection reduced the egg output in the early stage of the infection. Food intake had little effect on worm egg production in young sheep given food at maintenance or above. It is suggested that an improvement of nutrition, sulphur-containing amino acids in particular, is required to recover the loss of productive performance caused by the infection.

Keywords

globulinsglutathionemucosanematodanutritionsheep
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Science , Volume 81 , Issue 1 , August 2005 , pp. 149 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barger, I. A. 1996. Prospects for integration of novel parasite control options into grazing systems. International Journal for Parasitology 26: 1001–1007.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Besier, R. B. and Love, S. C. J. 2003. Anthelmintic resistance in sheep nematodes in Australia: the need for new approaches. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 43: 1383–1391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bisset, S. A., Morris, C. A., McEwan, J. C. and Vlassoff, A. 2001. Breeding sheep in New Zealand that are less reliant on anthelmintics to maintain health and productivity. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 49: 236–246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colditz, I. G., Watson, D. L., Gray, G. D. and Eady, S. J. 1996. Some relationships between age, immune responsiveness and resistance to parasites in ruminants. International Journal for Parasitology 26: 869–877.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coop, R. L. and Kyriazakis, I. 1999. Nutrition-parasite interaction. Veterinary Parasitology 84: 187–204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coop, R. L. and Kyriazakis, I. 2001. Influence of host nutrition on the development and consequences of nematode parasitism in ruminants. Trends in Parasitology 17: 325–330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coop, R. L., Kyriazakis, I., Huntley, J. F., Jackson, E. and Jackson, F. 1997. The influence of protein and amino acid on the resilience of sheep to intestinal parasitism. Proceedings of the fourth international congress for sheep veterinary (ed. Allworth, M. B.), pp. 196–198. University of New England Press, Armidale.Google Scholar
Douch, P. G. C., Green, R. S., Morris, C. A., Bisset, S. A., Vlassoff, A., Baker, R. L., Watson, T. G., Hurford, A. P. and Wheeler, M. 1995. Genetic and phenotypic relationships among anti-Trichostrongylus colubriformis antibody level, faecal egg count and body weight traits in grazing Romney sheep. Livestock Production Science 41: 121–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eady, S. J., Woolaston, R. R. and Barger, I. A. 2003. Comparison of genetic and nongenetic strategies for control of gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep. Livestock Production Science 81: 11–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibson, R. S. 1990. Assessment of protein status. In Principles of nutritional assessment (ed. Gibson, R. S.), pp. 307–348. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Gill, H. S., Watson, D. L. and Brandon, M. R. 1993. Monoclonal antibody to CD4 + T cells abrogates genetic resistance to Haemonchus contortus in sheep. Immunology 78: 43–49.Google ScholarPubMed
Gray, G. D. 1997. The use of genetically resistant sheep to control nematode parasitism. Veterinary Parasitology 72: 345–366.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grimble, R. F. and Grimble, G. K. 1998. Immunonutrition-role of sulphur amino acids, related amino acids, and polyamines. Nutrition 14: 605–610.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harrison, G. B. L., Pulford, H. D., Gatehouse, T. K., Shaw, R. J., Pfeffer, A. and Shoemaker, C. B. 1999. Studies on the role of mucus and mucosal hypersensitivity reactions during rejection of Trichostrongylus colubriformis from the intestine of immune sheep using an experimental challenge model. International Journal for Parasitology 29: 459–468.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoskin, S. O., Lobley, G. E., Coop, R. L. and Jackson, F. 2002. The effect of cysteine and glutamine supplementation on sheep infected with Trichostrongylus colubriformis. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 62: 72–76.Google Scholar
Karlsson, L. J. E. and Greeff, J. C. 1997. Selecting Merino sheep for genetic resistance to gastrointestinal nematodes in a Mediterranean environment. Proceedings of the fourth international congress on sheep veterinary (ed. Allworth, M. B.), pp. 346–349. University of New England, Armidale.Google Scholar
Liu, S. M., Smith, T. L., Briegel, J., Murray, A., Masters, D. G., Karlsson, L. J. E., Palmer, D. G., Greeff, J. C., Besier, R. B. and Gao, S. B. 2005. Comparing productive performance of nematode resistant Merino sheep with non-selected control. Livestock Production Science In press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lydyard, P. M., Whelan, A. and Fanger, M. W. 2000. Instant notes in immunology. BIOS Scientific Publishers, Abington.Google Scholar
McClure, S. 2000. Sheep immunity to gastrointestinal nematode parasites-review 2000. http: //www. csiro. au/proprietaryDocuments/McClure_Review2000. pdf.Google Scholar
MacRae, J. C., Walker, A., Brown, D. and Lobley, G. E. 1993. Accretion of total protein and individual amino acids by organs and tissues of growth lambs and the ability of nitrogen balance techniques to quantitate protein retention. Animal Production 57: 237–245.Google Scholar
Meeusen, E. N. T. and Balic, A. 2000. Do Eosinophils have a role in the killing of helminth parasites? Parasitology Today 16: 95–101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, F. M., Blair, H. T., Birtles, M. J., Reynolds, G. W., Gill, H. S. and Revell, D. K. 2000. Cysteine may play a role in the immune response to internal parasites in sheep. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 51: 793–799.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reeds, P. J., Burrin, D. G., Stoll, B. and Jahoor, F. 2000. Intestinal glutamate metabolism. Journal of Nutrition 130: 978S–982S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reis, P. J., Tunks, D. A. and Munro, S. G. 1990. Effects of the infusion of amino acids into the abomasum of sheep, with emphasis on the relative value of methionine, cysteine and homocysteine for wool growth. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 114: 59–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schafer, F. Q. and Buettner, G. R. 2001. Redox environment of the cell as viewed through the redox state of the glutathione disulfide/glutathione couple. Free Radical Biology and Medicine 30: 1191–1212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sedlak, F. and Lindsay, R. H. 1968. Estimation of total, protein-bound and nonprotein sulfhydryl groups in tissue with Ellman's reagent. Analytical Biochemistry 25: 192–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stear, M. J., Bishop, S. C., Henderson, N. G. and Scott, I. 2003. A key mechanism of pathogenesis in sheep infected with the nematode Teladorsagia circumcincta. Animal Health Research Reviews 4: 45–52.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steel, J. W., Symons, L. E. A. and Jones, W. O. 1980. Effects of level of larval intake on the productivity and physiological and metabolic responses of lambs infected with Trichostrongylus colubriformis. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 4: 821–838.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitlock, H. V. 1948. Some modifications of the McMaster helminth egg-counting techniques and apparatus. Journal of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 21: 177–180.Google Scholar
Wu, G. Y., Fang, Y. Z., Yang, S., Lupton, J. R. and Turner, N. D. 2004. Glutathione metabolism and its implications for health. Journal of Nutrition 134: 489–492.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed