Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, highly transmissible spongiform encephalopathy caused by an infectious prion protein. CWD is spreading across North American cervids. Studies of the prion protein gene (PRNP) in white-tailed deer (WTD; Odocoileus virginianus) have identified non-synonymous substitutions associated with reduced CWD frequency. Because CWD is spreading rapidly geographically, it may impact cervids of conservation concern. Here, we examined the genetic vulnerability to CWD of two subspecies of WTD: the endangered Florida Key deer (O. v. clavium) and the threatened Columbian white-tailed deer (O. v. leucurus). In Key deer (n = 48), we identified three haplotypes formed by five polymorphisms, of which two were nonsynonymous. The polymorphism c.574G>A, unique to Key deer (29 of 96 chromosomes), encodes a nonsynonymous substitution from valine to isoleucine at codon 192. In 91 of 96 chromosomes, Key deer carried c.286G>A (G96S), previously associated with substantially reduced susceptibility to CWD. Key deer may be less genetically susceptible to CWD than many mainland WTD populations. In Columbian WTD (n = 13), two haplotypes separated by one synonymous substitution (c. 438C>T) were identified. All of the Columbian WTD carried alleles that in other mainland populations are associated with relatively high susceptibility to CWD. While larger sampling is needed, future management plans should consider that Columbian WTD are likely to be genetically more vulnerable to CWD than many other WTD populations. Finally, we suggest that genetic vulnerability to CWD be assessed by sequencing PRNP across other endangered cervids, both wild and in captive breeding facilities.

中文翻译：

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朊病毒蛋白基因 (PRNP) 序列表明佛罗里达礁鹿 (Odocoileus virginianus clavium) 和哥伦比亚白尾鹿 (O. v. leucurus) 对慢性消耗性疾病的脆弱性不同

慢性消耗性疾病 (CWD) 是一种致命的、高度传染的海绵状脑病，由传染性朊病毒蛋白引起。CWD 正在北美鹿科动物中蔓延。对白尾鹿 (WTD；Odocoileus virginianus) 朊病毒蛋白基因 (PRNP) 的研究已确定与 CWD 频率降低相关的非同义替换。由于 CWD 在地理上迅速传播，它可能会影响保护关注的鹿科动物。在这里，我们检查了 WTD 的两个亚种对 CWD 的遗传脆弱性：濒临灭绝的佛罗里达礁鹿 (O. v. clavium) 和受威胁的哥伦比亚白尾鹿 (O. v. leucurus)。在 Key deer (n = 48) 中，我们确定了由五个多态性形成的三个单倍型，其中两个是非同义的。多态性 c.574G>A，Key deer 独有（96 条染色体中的 29 条），在密码子 192 编码从缬氨酸到异亮氨酸的非同义替换。在 96 条染色体中的 91 条中，Key deer 携带 c.286G>A (G96S)，以前与 CWD 的易感性显着降低有关。与许多大陆 WTD 种群相比，关键鹿对 CWD 的遗传易感性可能较低。在 Columbian WTD (n = 13) 中，鉴定了由一个同义替换 (c. 438C>T) 分隔的两个单倍型。所有哥伦比亚 WTD 携带的等位基因在其他大陆人群中与 CWD 相对较高的易感性相关。虽然需要更大的样本，但未来的管理计划应该考虑到哥伦比亚 WTD 可能比许多其他 WTD 种群在遗传上更容易受到 CWD 的影响。最后，我们建议通过对其他濒危鹿科动物的 PRNP 进行测序来评估 CWD 的遗传脆弱性，