Genetic variation in Nilagiri sheep, the only apparel wool breed in South India was studied using 25 FAO recommended ovine-specific microsatellite markers. The number of observed alleles ranged from 3 to 8 with a mean of 5 across all loci. The size of alleles ranged from 72 to 228 bp. The frequency of alleles ranged from 0.0104 to 0.5781. In total, 125 alleles were observed at the 25 loci studied. The effective number of alleles ranged from 2.18 to 6.49. The mean number of effective alleles was 3.84 across all loci. All the 25 loci were found to be highly polymorphic. The PIC values ranged from 0.4587 to 0.8277 with a mean of 0.6485. Of 25 microsatellites studied, 17 were in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium proportions. The observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.4222 to 1.000 with a mean value of 0.7610 whereas the expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.5415 to 0.8459 with a mean value of 0.7213. Except six loci, the other loci revealed negative within-population inbreeding estimates (F IS ) indicating excess of heterozygotes in the population of Nilagiri sheep.

TLR4 gene is one of the candidate genes for mastitis resistance in cattle. This gene has three exons and PCR with nine sets of primers produced nine amplicons. The amplicons were sequenced from both ends, assembled and screened for SNPs. Totally, 221 dairy cows (Jersey crossbreds, Holstein Friesian crossbreds and indigenous breeds) were genotyped either by PCR-RFLP or tetra-primer ARMS-PCR. Genotyping results showed that one SNP was in 5'UTR region, two SNPs in intron 1, one in exon 2 and seven in exon 3. Out of 11 SNPs, allele frequencies were found to differ between healthy and mastitic cows in six SNPs viz. SNPs 245, 5053, 5134, 9422, 9787 and 9794. At SNP position 5134, the G allele frequency got reduced from 0.71 in healthy cows to 0.50 in mastitic cows but the A allele frequency increased from 0.29 in healthy cows to 0.50 in mastitic cows. The SNP 5053T>G resulted from transversion while the SNPs 5087G>A and 5134G>A resulted from transitions. In SNP 5134G>A, the frequency of both the alleles were in equal proportions in mastitic animals. The SNP 9787C>T in exon 3 had shown no appreciable change in the allele frequencies in both normal and mastitis animals. Homology modeling of TLR4 gene revealed no change in the length of the amino acids of TLR4 protein. The amino acid tyrosine present in the position 674 in the protein chain of Bos taurus was replaced lysine in crossbreds. No association was found between TRL4 genotypes and somatic cell scores in the breeds studied.

The human mouth is one of the main routes of entry into the body for foreign microorganisms. During the usual course of daily living the host may be invaded by microbes possessing various harmful qualities, or the host may acquire breaks in its defenses, or may undergo operative procedures. In these conditions, the microorganisms find themselves in inadequately protected tissues because of break in local barrier. As tissues are injured and microbes increase, a variety of signals in the host brings about mobilization and local accumulation of protective factors and these are generally sufficient to contain the pathogens, prevent their dissemination, and allow healing to proceed promptly. The purpose of this review is to study both innate and immunologicallymediated defense systems in the human mouth and to review extensively the functions of these various defense mechanisms in protecting the host from colonization with microorganisms and cancerous cells with particular emphasis on the oral cavity and its immediate surroundings.