Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/L009897/1
Genetics of tuberculosis susceptibility, progression and diagnosis in a wild animal host
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor AJ Wilson, University of Exeter, Biosciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Exeter, Biosciences
- Science Area:
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Terrestrial
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Natural Resource Management
- Science Topics:
- None
- Abstract:
- The goal of this project is to explore the question of how genetic factors influence disease risk and progression in a wild animal population. It will do this by coupling molecular and statistical genetic methods with data from a long term study of bovine tuberculosis in wild badgers. The badger project is based at Woodchester Park, Glos, and is run by the National Wildlife Management Centre (Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency), the CASE partner organisation for the project. Since 1976, data on >3000 individually identifiable badgers have been collected. This includes information about their growth, reproduction, and survival, with animals captured multiple times over their lifetimes. Additionally, the badgers have been tested for TB using a suite of diagnostic tools. This provides a rare and novel opportunity to study the genetics of infection and pathology in a wild population. The project will aim to answer whether, and to what extent, natural populations harbour genetic variation for disease susceptibility, and how strong natural selection is on disease traits. In other words, do genetic differences among animals translate into variation in evolutionary fitness (i.e., survival or reproductive success). If so then what consequences will this have for the evolution of disease progression and pathology in wild populations? To tackle these questions a student will use the theoretical framework of quantitative genetics. This is a statistical approach in which hypotheses about the genetic basis of trait (co)variation in a population are formulated and rigorously tested using statistical models. Quantitative genetic models require knowledge of the relationships among individuals within a population, so the first stage of the project will be to use existing molecular data, available in the form of microsatellite genotypes, to infer the parental and sibling relationships among sampled badgers. The reconstructed pedigree will then be used in subsequent analyses to characterise genetic influences on disease related traits using well developed theory. Although the project is addressing fundamental questions, the specific context of TB in badgers means that the results of this research are expected to have direct implications for government policy in relation to controlling tuberculosis in cattle. Bovine TB is the single biggest animal health challenge in the U.K., incurring losses of around 100M pounds to taxpayers and further losses to farmers. In fact badgers are a particularly valuable model of TB progression more generally since, unlike cattle or humans, there is no clinical intervention after detection. This means that the Woodchester data set is unique in providing the opportunity to examine how genetic factors affect not just the likelihood of testing positive for TB, but also the probability of progression to infectiousness and morbidity. Thus, this project could inform not just TB management in badgers, but also has bearing on TB detection and control in cattle and humans.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/L009897/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- DTG - directed
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Industrial CASE
This training grant award has a total value of £83,515
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Fees | Total - RTSG | Total - Student Stipend |
|---|---|---|
| £16,226 | £11,000 | £56,292 |
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