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The gamma delta T-cell receptor (TCR)-positive lymphocytes are a major circulating lymphocyte population in cattle, especially in young calves. In contrast, human and mice have low levels of circulating gamma delta TCR+ T cells (gamma delta T cells). The majority of the…

Pinnipeds, marine carnivores, diverged from terrestrial carnivores ~45 million years ago, before their adaptation to marine environments. This lifestyle change exposed pinnipeds to different microbiota and pathogens, with probable impact on their MHC class I genes…

The cytokine hormone leptin is a key signalling molecule in many pathways that control physiological functions. Although leptin demonstrates structural conservation in mammals, there is evidence of positive selection in primates, lagomorphs and chiropterans. We previously…

The cattle major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region contains a variable number of classical class I genes encoding polymorphic molecules involved in antigen presentation. Six classical class I genes have been described, but assigning sequences to these genes has proved…

Peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) recently caused a serious outbreak of disease in Moroccan sheep and goats. Alpine goats were highly susceptible to PPRV with mortality rates approaching 100%, as opposed to local breeds of sheep which were less susceptible to the…

The host kairomones carbon dioxide (CO2) and 1-octen-3-ol elicit a host seeking response in a wide range of haematophagous Diptera. This study investigates the response of Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) to these cues using field-based experiments at two…

Prion-like transmission of protein aggregates or amyloid in several neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and Alzheimer's disease, in addition to the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (or prion diseases), has been proposed…

Understanding how pathogens or vaccine antigens are targeted to dendritic cell (DC) subsets is important for disease pathogenesis studies and vaccine design. We characterised the sub-populations of migrating bovine DC with functional and phenotypic diversity present in…

The portfolio of reagents for immunology research in veterinary species is limited compared to those available for humans and model biomedical species such as mice. For example, we still lack the reagents to fully ascertain if the immunological paradigms relating to the…