Keeping tabs on scab: population genetics to inform sheep scab eradication in the UK
Supervisors:
James Cotton, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, (University of Glasgow)
Jennifer McIntyre, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, (University of Glasgow)
Stewart Burgess, Moredun Research Institute
Barbara Mable, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, (University of Glasgow)
Roz Laing, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, (University of Glasgow)
Summary:
Sheep scab, caused by the ectoparasitic mite Psoroptes ovis, is an infectious disease of small ruminants. It causes intense pruritus, pain and distress in infested animals and is highly contagious, making it a key welfare concern for farmed animals, with a severe economic burden of ~£80-200M per year to the UK farming industry in lost production and treatment costs. Farmers can use either organophosphate dips or injectable macrocyclic lactones (MLs) to control P. ovis mites. Recently, ML resistance was confirmed in the UK and is spreading widely. Currently, several control programs are in place across the UK, with additional projects about to commence.
The aim of these programs is to achieve long-term sustainable control of sheep scab in entire areas using, primarily, organophosphate plunge dipping. This project seeks to investigate changes in the mite populations in these programs over time, looking at population size, diversity and using population genetics to compare between populations and time points. We have available a chromosomal-level P. ovis genome assembly, and will use genome wide and targeted techniques to analyse these populations over both space and time.
This interdisciplinary project provides a broad foundational training for research, including parasitological techniques, molecular biology, population genetics, bioinformatics techniques and knowledge exchange.