Journal article
Characterisation of the immune compounds in koala milk using a combined transcriptomic and proteomic approach
Scientific Reports, Vol.6(35011)
2016
Abstract
Production of milk is a key characteristic of mammals, but the features of lactation vary greatly between monotreme, marsupial and eutherian mammals. Marsupials have a short gestation followed by a long lactation period, and milk constituents vary greatly across lactation. Marsupials are born immunologically naïve and rely on their mother's milk for immunological protection. Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) are an iconic Australian species that are increasingly threatened by disease. Here we use a mammary transcriptome, two milk proteomes and the koala genome to comprehensively characterise the protein components of koala milk across lactation, with a focus on immune constituents. The most abundant proteins were well-characterised milk proteins, including β-lactoglobulin and lactotransferrin. In the mammary transcriptome, 851 immune transcripts were expressed, including immunoglobulins and complement components. We identified many abundant antimicrobial peptides, as well as novel proteins with potential antimicrobial roles. We discovered that marsupial VELP is an ortholog of eutherian Glycam1, and likely has an antimicrobial function in milk. We also identified highly-abundant koala endogenous-retrovirus sequences, identifying a potential transmission route from mother to young. Characterising the immune components of milk is key to understanding protection of marsupial young, and the novel immune compounds identified may have applications in clinical research.
Details
- Title
- Characterisation of the immune compounds in koala milk using a combined transcriptomic and proteomic approach
- Authors
- Katrina M Morris (Author) - University of SydneyDenis O'Meally (Author) - University of SydneyThiri Zaw (Author) - Macquarie UniversityXiaomin Song (Author) - Macquarie UniversityAmber Gillett (Author) - Australia Zoo Wildlife HospitalMark P Molloy (Author) - Macquarie UniversityAdam Polkinghorne (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and EngineeringKatherine Belov (Author) - University of Sydney
- Publication details
- Scientific Reports, Vol.6(35011); 14
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date published
- 2016
- DOI
- 10.1038/srep35011
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2016. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450700302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
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