Immunological response to Solenopsis invicta in cattle of different genetic types

Date

1999-05

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Texas Tech University

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to: (1) develop bovine IgG and IgE and ovine IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA)specific to red imported fire ant venom (RIFAV), (2) estimate passive immunity to RIFAV in cattle and sheep, and (3) evaluate cattle breed differences for immune response to the red imported fire ant (RIFA). Once developed, the bovine IgG ELISA was capable of differentiating cattle (n = 23) which had been in contact with red imported fire ant (RIFA) from cattle (n = 5) that had no previous history of RIFA exposure. The optical density (OD) readings of the cows (.599 to .935 OD range) from the RIFA-endemic area as opposed to those cows (.252 to .305 OD range) with no previous exposure to RIFA and the negative control (.090) result in a P:N ratio of 10.39. The ovine IgG ELISA was also capable of distinguishing sheep (n = 9) from a RIFA endemic area from sheep (n = 10) with no history of RIFA exposure. Sheep OD means ranged from .780 (positive control) to . 113 (negative control), which results in a P:N ratio of 6.90. These results indicate that the IgG ELISA protocols can be utilized to measure IgG levels of beef cattle and sheep. However, the IgE ELISA protocol proved to be too inconsistent to use at this time.

Description

Keywords

Solenopsis invicta, Sheep, Beef cattle

Citation