LIVESTOCK | ANIMAL HEALTH
FE tolerance tests break new ground
“Haven’tdrenched drenchedour ourmaternal maternal “Haven’t studewes ewesforfor1212years” years” stud Tobook book your To your ramsor orfind findouT ouT rams more,conTacT: conTacT: more, 74
can be secured, the next phase would be to look for this fingerprint in animals (sheep, cattle and deer) with FE. They will also look at herds known to be either resilient or susceptible to FE and compare fingerprints. Heiser says while nothing is fast in science, he is hoping that by the end of next year they will have a good idea whether a blood or saliva test is going to work. They will then work with a commercial partner to make a fast high-throughput test that is affordable and accessible to commercial breeders and farmers. An easy and affordable test would make the testing of females feasible, significantly speeding up the breeding of FE resilient animals. The need for this type of test was driven by farmers and researchers (the Facial
Winnerofofthe the “AllianceGroup GroupNZ NZ Winner “Alliance Terminal Worth2016” 2016” Terminal Worth Martha Broughton Martha Broughton 021 779 485 m:m: 021 779 485
Ceri Lewis Ceri Lewis 0800 685 468 T: T: 0800 685 468 a/H: 03 225 4687 a/H: 03 225 4687 Country-Wide
October 2020
2127493-13/2
A
pilot study investigating the potential of a groundbreaking facial eczema (FE) tolerance test is underway with initial results expected early next year. The purpose of this pilot study, led by AgResearch’s Dr Axel Heiser and funded by Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ), is to test the feasibility of a laboratory-based test to determine an animal’s tolerance to the toxin associated with FE. Heiser says the goal is to find a test for either blood or saliva, that would indicate an animal’s resistance or susceptibility to FE. This is based on the premise that as well as causing toxicity to the liver, sporidesmin, the toxin produced by the
pasture fungus Pithomyces chartarum, is also toxic to other cells in the body, such as those found in blood and saliva. Heiser and his team have been carrying out a number of experiments with blood cells and now have shown toxicity on blood cells. They are beginning to do the same with cells prepared from saliva, which is a bit more technical, but saliva samples are a lot easier to take, as they are for the CARLA test. “What we’re trying to see is what sporidesmin does to those cells.” By carrying out a detailed analysis of treated and untreated cell cultures, they are hoping to find a fingerprint or profile of sporidesmin toxicity. The discovery of that fingerprint, hopefully by the end of January, would mark the end of phase one of the study. If phase one is successful and funding
2127493-13/2
BY: SANDRA TAYLOR