Association of toll-like receptor four single nucleotide polymorphisms with incidence of infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK) in cattle.

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a receptor protein that binds pathogen ligands, which are mainly associated with Gram-negative bacteria. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of nucleotide polymorphisms in TLR4 with infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), or pinkeye, incidence in American Angus cattle. Animals with previously calculated breeding values for IBK susceptibility were used to identify two SNPs in TLR4; Int1 (A/G) in intron1 (-26 Ex2 position) and Ex3 (C/T) in exon3 (1,678 position).