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A shared unusual genetic change at the chemokine receptor type 5 between Oryctolagus, Bunolagus and Pentalagus

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Abstract

Whereas in most leporid species studied the effects of exposure to Myxoma virus (MV) are benign, in the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) it causes an epizootic disease with particularly high mortality rates, known as myxomatosis. Chemokine receptors are known to play an important role in infection by large DNA viruses such as MV, by acting as portals for viral entry into the host cell. As with the human immunodeficiency virus, CCR5 is among the major candidates to affect resistance to myxomatosis. Previous sequence comparisons of the CCR5 gene among Leporid species revealed that a drastic change occurred at the second extracellular loop which was unique to the European rabbit species. Here we report that European rabbit shares this particular alteration with two of its closest relatives: the South African Riverine rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis) and the Japanese Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi). Both species represent monotypic genera and are included in the IUCN Red List as Endangered. It would then be urgent to study the susceptibility of these species to myxomatosis. Despite the lack of direct evidence that the altered CCR5 can affect the outcome of exposure to MV, the reported findings justify preventive measures to be considered.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Foundation for Science and Technology Portugal: Project POCTI/BIA-BDE/61553/2004 and grants SFRH/BD/31048/2006 and SFRH/BPD/27021/2006 to JA and PJE, respectively. We thank to Greg Mutze and Brian Cooke for providing us with the samples of European rabbits from Australia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Campus Agrário de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal

    Joana Abrantes, Catarina R. Carmo, Wessel van der Loo & Pedro J. Esteves

  2. Departamento de Zoologia e Antropologia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Joana Abrantes, Catarina R. Carmo & Wessel van der Loo

  3. INSERM U892, Institut de Biologie, Nantes, France

    Joana Abrantes

  4. Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, Du Cane Road, W12 0NN, London, UK

    Catarina R. Carmo

  5. Evolutionary Genomics Group, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, 7602, South Africa

    Conrad A. Matthee

  6. Kanasi Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Kyoto, Japan

    Fumio Yamada

  7. Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias da Saúde (CITS), IPSN, CESPU, Gandra, Portugal

    Pedro J. Esteves

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  1. Joana Abrantes
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  2. Catarina R. Carmo
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  3. Conrad A. Matthee
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  4. Fumio Yamada
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  5. Wessel van der Loo
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  6. Pedro J. Esteves
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pedro J. Esteves.

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Abrantes, J., Carmo, C.R., Matthee, C.A. et al. A shared unusual genetic change at the chemokine receptor type 5 between Oryctolagus, Bunolagus and Pentalagus . Conserv Genet 12, 325–330 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-009-9990-1

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