scholarly journals Bovine tuberculosis: the genetic basis of host susceptibility

2010 ◽  
Vol 277 (1695) ◽  
pp. 2737-2745 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Allen ◽  
G. Minozzi ◽  
E. J. Glass ◽  
R. A. Skuce ◽  
S. W. J. McDowell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Host Susceptibility ◽  
Host Genotype ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Badger Culling ◽  
Agricultural Industries ◽  
The Uk

The prevalence of bovine tuberculosis (BTB) in the UK remains a significant economic burden and problem for the agri-food industry. Much effort has been directed towards improving diagnostics, finding vaccine candidates and assessing the usefulness of badger culling. The contribution that host genotype makes to disease outcome has, until recently, been overlooked; yet, it is biologically untenable that genetic variation does not play a role. In this review, we highlight the evidence, past and present, for a role of host genetics in determining susceptibility to BTB in livestock. We then address some of the major issues surrounding the design of future studies tasked with finding the exact causative genetic variation underpinning the TB susceptibility phenotype. Finally, we discuss some of the potential future benefits, and problems, that a knowledge of the genetic component to BTB resistance/susceptibility may bring to the agricultural industries and the wider scientific community.

scholarly journals Bovine tuberculosis in cattle from 1986 to 2012 in and around badger-culled areas of the RBCT

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hendy
Keyword(s):  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Health Agency ◽  
Incidence Data ◽  
Badger Culling ◽  
Scientific Group ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
South West England

In 2007 the Independent Scientific Group (ISG) reported to the UK government the impact on bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle of a trial where badgers were culled between 1998 and 2005. This trial, known as the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT), was performed across 100 km2 (nominal) zones in the West of England. The results were based on a model of new herd incidence data. It was concluded that reactive culling generated overall detrimental effects, while proactive culling achieved very modest overall benefits at the cost of elevated incidence on neighbouring farms. This work looks at more extensive RBCT data to examine if these findings hold true. Instead of presenting the results of a model, this work directly illustrates data supplied in March 2016 by the Animal and Plant Health Agency. Such data covers a greater number of years (1986 to 2012) and includes the prevalence of herd restrictions as well as herd incidence. It appears that whilst cattle TB noticeably reduced in areas subjected to proactive culling, TB did not significantly increase in the surrounding areas. The more limited reactive culls were found to have no significant impact either positively or negatively. This applied to both the treated and surrounding areas. The more extensive data also showed that culling badgers only reduced confirmed TB with no significant impact on unconfirmed TB. This was also found by the ISG in 2007 when using their model. The delay before culling benefit became apparent was about 5 years after the first substantial cull. This has implications for the culls which started in South West England in 2013. If account is taken for the need to average the data, the number of years needed to see TB drop, and the reporting delay, it may not be until September 2023 before the impact of these culls become clear. Also, if culls stop after year four in each zone, this risks benefits falling short of those achieved in the RBCT.

scholarly journals Bovine tuberculosis in cattle from 1986 to 2012 in and around badger-culled areas of the RBCT

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hendy
Keyword(s):  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Health Agency ◽  
Incidence Data ◽  
Badger Culling ◽  
Media Hype ◽  
Scientific Group ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

In 2007 the Independent Scientific Group (ISG) reported to the UK government the impact on bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle of a trial where badgers were culled between 1998 and 2005. This trial, known as the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT), was performed across 100 km2 (nominal) zones in the West of England. The results were based on a model of new herd incidence data. It was concluded that reactive culling generated overall detrimental effects, while proactive culling achieved very modest overall benefits at the cost of elevated incidence in surrounding areas. This work looks at more extensive RBCT data to examine if these findings hold true. Instead of presenting the results of a model, this work directly illustrates the data. The Animal and Plant Health Agency supplied this data in March 2016. Such data covers a greater number of years (1986 to 2012) and includes the prevalence of herd restrictions as well as herd incidence. Whilst the proactive culls substantially and sustainably reduced cattle TB in treated areas, such culls did not significantly increase TB in the surrounding areas. In fact New Herd Incidents (NHI’s) between 2006 and 2012 dropped by 28%, 1% and 18% in the treated, outer 2km ring, and combined areas respectively. Based on the number of NHI’s prevented since 1998, a break-even cost for a badger removal exercise was calculated to be £8,454 per km2. This figure may be under-estimated because it takes no account of any NHI’s prevented after 2012. The more limited reactive culls were found to have no significant impact. This applied to both the treated area and outer 2km ring. The data also showed that the culls only reduced confirmed TB with no significant impact on unconfirmed TB. This was also found by the ISG when they reported results in 2007. Arguments surrounding badger culling in the UK have been poorly based due to incomplete data. In view of this and media hype, it should be emphasised that after the first year of substantial culling across the study area, 9 years of data were needed to clearly see the full extent by which TB dropped in the RBCT. This has implications for the culls which started in South West England in 2013. If the current reporting delay of 20 months persists, it may be the autumn of 2023 at the earliest before the impact of these culls becomes clear. Also, if culls stop after year four in each zone, this risks benefits falling short of those achieved in the RBCT.

scholarly journals The role of APETALA1 in petal number robustness

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Monniaux ◽  
Bjorn Pieper ◽  
Sarah M McKim ◽  
Anne-Lise Routier-Kierzkowska ◽  
Daniel Kierzkowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Phenotypic Expression ◽  
Specific Difference ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Epistatic Interactions ◽  
Species Specific

Invariant floral forms are important for reproductive success and robust to natural perturbations. Petal number, for example, is invariant in Arabidopsis thaliana flowers. However, petal number varies in the closely related species Cardamine hirsuta, and the genetic basis for this difference between species is unknown. Here we show that divergence in the pleiotropic floral regulator APETALA1 (AP1) can account for the species-specific difference in petal number robustness. This large effect of AP1 is explained by epistatic interactions: A. thaliana AP1 confers robustness by masking the phenotypic expression of quantitative trait loci controlling petal number in C. hirsuta. We show that C. hirsuta AP1 fails to complement this function of A. thaliana AP1, conferring variable petal number, and that upstream regulatory regions of AP1 contribute to this divergence. Moreover, variable petal number is maintained in C. hirsuta despite sufficient standing genetic variation in natural accessions to produce plants with four-petalled flowers.

scholarly journals The Shared Genetic Basis of Educational Attainment and Cerebral Cortical Morphology

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 3471-3481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Ge ◽  
Chia-Yen Chen ◽  
Alysa E Doyle ◽  
Richard Vettermann ◽  
Lauri J Tuominen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Cortical Morphology ◽  
Shared Genetic

Abstract Individual differences in educational attainment are linked to differences in intelligence, and predict important social, economic, and health outcomes. Previous studies have found common genetic factors that influence educational achievement, cognitive performance and total brain volume (i.e., brain size). Here, in a large sample of participants from the UK Biobank, we investigate the shared genetic basis between educational attainment and fine-grained cerebral cortical morphological features, and associate this genetic variation with a related aspect of cognitive ability. Importantly, we execute novel statistical methods that enable high-dimensional genetic correlation analysis, and compute high-resolution surface maps for the genetic correlations between educational attainment and vertex-wise morphological measurements. We conduct secondary analyses, using the UK Biobank verbal–numerical reasoning score, to confirm that variation in educational attainment that is genetically correlated with cortical morphology is related to differences in cognitive performance. Our analyses relate the genetic overlap between cognitive ability and cortical thickness measurements to bilateral primary motor cortex as well as predominantly left superior temporal cortex and proximal regions. These findings extend our understanding of the neurobiology that connects genetic variation to individual differences in educational attainment and cognitive performance.

scholarly journals The Shared Genetic Basis of Educational Attainment and Cerebral Cortical Morphology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Ge ◽  
Chia-Yen Chen ◽  
Alysa E. Doyle ◽  
Richard Vettermann ◽  
Lauri J. Tuominen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Cognitive Performance ◽  
Genetic Basis ◽  
Uk Biobank ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Cortical Morphology ◽  
Shared Genetic

AbstractIndividual differences in educational attainment are linked to differences in intelligence, and predict important social, economic and health outcomes. Previous studies have found common genetic factors that influence educational achievement, cognitive performance and total brain volume (i.e., brain size). Here, in a large sample of participants from the UK Biobank, we investigate the shared genetic basis between educational attainment and fine-grained cerebral cortical morphological features, and associate this genetic variation with a related aspect of cognitive ability. Importantly, we execute novel statistical methods that enable high-dimensional genetic correlation analysis, and compute high-resolution surface maps for the genetic correlations between educational attainment and vertex-wise morphological measurements. We conduct secondary analyses, using the UK Biobank verbal-numerical reasoning score, to confirm that variation in educational attainment that is genetically correlated with cortical morphology is related to differences in cognitive performance. Our analyses reveal the genetic overlap between cognitive ability and cortical thickness measurements in bilateral primary motor cortex and predominantly left superior temporal cortex and proximal regions. These findings may contribute to our understanding of the neurobiology that connects genetic variation to individual differences in educational attainment and cognitive performance.

scholarly journals Host genotype explains rhizospheric microbial community composition: the case of wild cotton metapopulations (Gossypium hirsutum L.) in Mexico

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Hernández-Terán ◽  
Marcelo Navarro-Díaz ◽  
Mariana Benítez ◽  
Rafael Lira ◽  
Ana Wegier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Microbial Community ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Microbial Community Composition ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Rrna Gene ◽  
Host Genotype ◽  
Plant Host ◽  
Wild Cotton

ABSTRACT The rhizosphere provides several benefits to the plant host being a strong determinant for its health, growth and productivity. Nonetheless, the factors behind the assembly of the microbial communities associated with the rhizosphere such as the role of plant genotypes are not completely understood. In this study, we tested the role that intraspecific genetic variation has in rhizospheric microbial community assemblages, using genetically distinct wild cotton populations as a model of study. We followed a common garden experiment including five wild cotton populations, controlling for plant genotypes, environmental conditions and soil microbial community inoculum, to test for microbial differences associated with genetic variation of the plant hosts. Microbial communities of the treatments were characterized by culture-independent 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing with Illumina MiSeq platform. We analyzed microbial community diversity (alpha and beta), and diversity structure of such communities, determined by co-occurrence networks. Results show that different plant genotypes select for different and specific microbial communities from a common inoculum. Although we found common amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) to all plant populations (235), we also found unique ASVs for different populations that could be related to potential functional role of such ASVs in the rhizosphere.

scholarly journals Randomised Badger Culling Trial: How big was the perturbation effect?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hendy
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Intervals ◽  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Statistical Error ◽  
Badger Culling ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Perturbation Effect

In a report issued to the UK government in 2007 on the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT), it was stated that the incidence of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle increased in areas surrounding where badgers were removed. It is known that badger culling perturbs badgers and this leads to increased TB transmission in and around these treated areas. The increase in TB in the surrounding areas was attributed to this process. In this study of the RBCT analysis it was found that large TB increases in areas surrounding proactively treated areas depended heavily on adjustments made for pre-cull history. This work looks at the basis for applying these adjustments. Since it is not possible to remove statistical error in the data, which confidence intervals suggest may have been large, it is argued that it was unsafe to apply these adjustments. As such it is argued that TB increases due to perturbation in the report presented to the UK government in 2007 may have been over-estimated.

scholarly journals Randomised Badger Culling Trial: How big was the perturbation effect?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hendy
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Intervals ◽  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Statistical Error ◽  
Badger Culling ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Perturbation Effect

In a report issued to the UK government in 2007 on the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT), it was stated that the incidence of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle increased in areas surrounding where badgers were removed. It is known that badger culling perturbs badgers and this leads to increased TB transmission in and around these treated areas. The increase in TB in the surrounding areas was attributed to this process. In this study of the RBCT analysis it was found that large TB increases in areas surrounding proactively treated areas depended heavily on adjustments made for pre-cull history. This work looks at the basis for applying these adjustments. Since it is not possible to remove statistical error in the data, which confidence intervals suggest may have been large, it is argued that it was unsafe to apply these adjustments. As such it is argued that TB increases due to perturbation in the report presented to the UK government in 2007 may have been over-estimated.

scholarly journals A review of money laundering literature: the state of research in key areas

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milind Tiwari ◽  
Adrian Gepp ◽  
Kuldeep Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Money Laundering ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Financial Flows ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Research Themes ◽  
Illicit Financial Flows ◽  
State Of Research ◽  
The Uk

Purpose The purpose of this study is to review the literature on money laundering and its related areas. The main objective is to identify any gaps in the literature and direct attention towards addressing them. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review of the money laundering literature was conducted with an emphasis on the Pro-Quest, Scopus and Science-Direct databases. Broad research themes were identified after investigating the literature. The theme about the detection of money laundering was then further investigated. The major approaches of such detection are identified, as well as research gaps that could be addressed in future studies. Findings The literature on money laundering can be classified into the following six broad areas: anti-money laundering framework and its effectiveness, the effect of money laundering on other fields and the economy, the role of actors and their relative importance, the magnitude of money laundering, new opportunities available for money laundering and detection of money laundering. Most studies about the detection of money laundering have focused on the use of innovative technologies, banking transactions or real estate- and trade-based money laundering. However, the literature on the detection of shell companies being explicitly used to launder funds is relatively scarce. Originality/value This paper provides insights into an area related to money laundering where research is relatively scant. Shell companies incorporated in the UK alone were identified to be associated with laundering £80bn of stolen money between 2010 and 2014. The use of these entities to launder billions of dollars as witnessed through the laundromat schemes and several data leaks clearly indicate the need to focus on illicit financial flows through such entities.

scholarly journals Doubts concerning the analysis of data collected in areas surrounding badger culled areas of the RBCT

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hendy
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Intervals ◽  
Bovine Tuberculosis ◽  
Statistical Error ◽  
Badger Culling ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
The Uk

In a report issued to the UK government in 2007 on the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT), it was stated that the incidence of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle increased in areas surrounding where badgers were removed. It is known that badger culling perturbs badgers and this leads to increased TB transmission in and around these treated areas. The increase in TB in the surrounding areas was attributed to this process. In this study of the RBCT analysis it was found that large TB increases in areas surrounding proactively treated areas depended heavily on adjustments made for pre-cull history. This work looks at the basis for applying these adjustments. Since it is not possible to remove statistical error in the data, which confidence intervals suggest may have been large, it is argued that it was unsafe to apply these adjustments. As such it is argued that TB increases due to perturbation in the report presented to the UK government in 2007 may have been grossly over-estimated.

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