MACROSYS - Macrophage Systems Biology Applied to Disease Control

Cattle farming is one of the most important agricultural activities in the EU. This project will address issues of the health and welfare of cattle and the safety of cattle products, focusing on diseases that are on the increase in European cattle population and are of growing concern elsewhere. Two related diseases will be targeted, bovine tuberculosis (TB) and bovine paratuberculosis (Para-TB or Johnes disease). The objective of the proposed project is to use a combined functional and classical genomics and system biology approaches (systems genetics) to investigate host-pathogen interactions and the host immune response to myco-bacterium infection.
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The outcomes will be 1) increased knowledge of macrophage function the application of this knowledge will be to develop tests to identify infected animals, and 2) the identification of genes that regulate the response of an individual to infection: information that could be applied in selective breeding programmes. Specifically the project will use functional, comparative genomics and in silico analysis to understand the genetic control of variation in the outcomes of disease challenge to develop molecular diagnostic tools to improve disease surveillance and to assist in selective improvement of breeding of cattle to control these diseases.