Expression profiling of mucin 20 gene in pigs differentially adhesive to diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli

The Escherichia coli mediated piglet diarrhea is the major problem of the piggery industry. Escherichia coli bind to the brush border of the epithelial cells of the intestine on this basis of receptors and fimbriae adhesion pattern. Exploring the genetics behind this trait will immensely benefit pig welfare as well as the pig breeding industry by catering an opportunity to select against genetically susceptible animals. Among the putative candidate genes associated with adhesion pattern, mucin20 gene was localized on the targeted region of SSC13 and considered as a putative candidate gene due to its biochemical property as well as physical location. The present investigation was conducted to study mucin20 expression profile in different adhesion phenotypes. The relative expression of mucin20 mRNA was significantly up-regulated in weak adhesive, adhesive and strongly adhesive phenotypes suggesting its important role in attachment of E coli, thereby influencing the diarrhoea occurrence.