Hepatic Transcriptome Analysis Identifies Divergent Pathogen-Specific Targeting-Strategies to Modulate the Innate Immune System in Response to Intramammary Infection.

Mastitis is one of the major risks for public health and animal welfare in the dairy industry. Two of the most important pathogens to cause mastitis in dairy cattle are () and (). While generally induces a chronic and subclinical mastitis, is an important etiological pathogen resulting in an acute and clinical mastitis.

In vivo model to study the impact of genetic variation on clinical outcome of mastitis in uniparous dairy cows.

Background: In dairy herds, mastitis causes detrimental economic losses. Genetic selection offers a sustainable tool to select animals with reduced susceptibility towards postpartum diseases. Studying underlying mechanisms is important to assess the physiological processes that cause differences between selected haplotypes.

Genetic selection for bovine chromosome 18 haplotypes associated with divergent somatic cell score affects postpartum reproductive and metabolic performance.

The susceptibility of animals to periparturient diseases has a great effect on the economic efficiency of dairy industries, on the frequency of antibiotic treatment, and on animal welfare. The use of selection for breeding cows with reduced susceptibility to diseases offers a sustainable tool to improve dairy cattle farming. Several studies have focused on the association of distinct bovine chromosome 18 genotypes or haplotypes with performance traits.