Identification of disease-causing genes that underlie complex traits, such as susceptibility to disease, is the primary goal of genetic and biomedical researches. Bovine mastitis is the most prevalent disease with substantial economic losses and animal welfare issues in dairy industry. Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and single-nucleotide polymorphism or gene association data as biomarkers were used in the selection programs in this industry. In the current microarray-based study, the gene expression profiles of cows selected for high or low mastitis susceptibility affected by a specific QTL on Bos taurus autosome 18 (BTA18) with induced E. coli mastitis in acute phase (time point 24h) were used to perform functional genomics. The results of a functional enrichment analysis showed that the Q genotype (favorable allele) helps to correct suppression of the metabolic process during infection and help to moderate signaling pathways related to immune response and inflammation. The most important pathways suppressed by Q genotype are related to triggering the inflammatory and immune responses which cause moderate responses to infection. Furthermore, the pathways related to growth, cell proliferation and reproductive process enriched by down-regulated expressed genes. The results of network analysis showed that transcription factors TP53, SP1 ligands such as INS, IL1B, IFNG, TGFB1, EGF and protein kinase MAPK1 are the common regulatory factors in the constructed networks.

These findings regardless of revealing the new biological process of gene regulatory network analysis of differentially expressed genes (DE)s in bovine mastitis, could also introduce the important key regulatory elements in resistance to mastitis.

遗传和生物医学研究的主要目标是鉴定构成复杂特征（如疾病易感性）的致病基因。牛乳腺炎是最常见的疾病，在乳制品行业中造成巨大的经济损失和动物福利问题。在该行业的选择程序中，使用了定量性状位点（QTL）和单核苷酸多态性或基因关联数据作为生物标记。在当前的基于微阵列的研究中，选择的牛的基因表达谱受到高或低乳腺炎易感性的影响，受到感染的大肠杆菌在Bos taurus常染色体18（BTA18）上受到特定QTL的影响急性期（时间点24h）的乳腺炎用于进行功能基因组学研究。功能富集分析的结果表明，Q基因型（有利的等位基因）有助于纠正感染过程中代谢过程的抑制，并有助于缓解与免疫反应和炎症相关的信号传导途径。Q基因型抑制的最重要途径与引发炎症和免疫反应有关，后者引起对感染的中等反应。此外，与生长，细胞增殖和生殖过程有关的途径被下调的表达基因所丰富。网络分析结果表明，转录因子TP53，SP1配体如INS，IL1B，IFNG，TGFB1，EGF和蛋白激酶MAPK1 是构建网络中的常见监管因素。

这些发现无论揭示了牛乳腺炎中差异表达基因（DE）的基因调控网络分析的新生物学过程，也可能会引入抵抗乳腺炎的重要关键调控因子。