Anaya, GNegro, SZhou, HuitongHickford, JonathanMolina, A2021-12-032021-10-302021-122021-10-280034-528834763255 (pubmed)https://hdl.handle.net/10182/14457Footrot is a contagious disease that affects the hoof of sheep and other ungulates. The severity of the disease varies from a slight limp to the death of the individual due to injuries that prevent them from feeding. Variants of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC)-DQA2 gene (MHC-DQA2) have been associated with a greater or lesser susceptibility to footrot in Greek, New Zealand and German sheep. In this study, variation in ovine MHC-DQA2, the absence or presence of footrot and the severity of infection was analysed in 117 Spanish Merino, Black Merino and Churra Lebrijana sheep. A total of 21 alleles/haplotypes and 65 genotypes were found with different frequencies in these breeds. As found in other studies, the MHC-DQA2 allele *1101 appeared to be associated with increased susceptibility to footrot, while allele *1201 appeared to be associated with decreased susceptibility. Overall this would suggest the ovine MHC plays a role in controlling susceptibility to footrot infection and that there are breed differences in susceptibility. Sheep might therefore be able to be selected by their MHC-DQA2 alleles/haplotypes to reduce the incidence of the disease in flocks.pp.190-194Print-Electronicen© 2021 The Authors.footrotDQA2footrot gene-marker scoreSpanish sheepAnimalsSheepSheep, DomesticFoot RotSheep DiseasesGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseMajor Histocompatibility ComplexGenotypeHaplotypesAllelesSpainJournal Article10.1016/j.rvsc.2021.10.0201532-2661ANZSRC::300304 Animal protection (incl. pests and pathogens)ANZSRC::3003 Animal productionANZSRC::3105 GeneticsANZSRC::3009 Veterinary sciencesANZSRC::300903 Veterinary bacteriologyANZSRC::310506 Gene mappingANZSRC::3003 Animal productionANZSRC::3009 Veterinary scienceshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Attribution