ROSLINREPORTER Issue 27 June 2013 n another bumper edition of the IRoslin Reporter you can catch up Roslin Institute on our science, public engagement, industry collaboration and much more. back at the Royal Highland Show he Roslin Institute was once again on that highlighted the work Helen Sang and her Inside this issue: Tshow at the Royal Highland Show. In group are undertaking to create genetically addition to sharing our marquee with our modified, disease-resistant chickens. Adrian Director’s Message Page 3 friends from the Royal (Dick) School of Sherman, who is the specialist behind the Veterinary Studies (R(D)SVS), we were technology needs a steady hand for the work Roslin In The News Page 4 also delighted to be joined by colleagues and we were keen to see who might rival his from The Pirbright Institute (like The Roslin skills – thus the buzzing chicken! Other News Page 9 Institute, Pirbright receives strategic funding Eliza Wolfson, a recent Roslin Institute PhD from the BBSRC) and the Scottish Centre for graduate, also put together an activity to Recent Publications Page 26 Regenerative Medicine (SCRM) (also part illustrate the work of Ross Houston who is of the University of Edinburgh’s College of aiming to identify genetic markers in salmon Medicine and Veterinary Medicine). that will revolutionise the salmon breeding The volume and variety of activities on the stand industry through improved animal health. made for a thoroughly enjoyable as well as Eliza’s pool with disease resistant and educational experience for all those who visited. susceptible salmon provided some gentle The Roslin Institute had a buzzing chicken fishing for the younger visitors while the adults that required a steady hand to keep it quiet. had a chance to ask about the research. The activity was part of an information area The R(D)SVS team were kept busy providing guidance on vet school admission and Mouth Disease viruses and Ingrid from requirements to a large number of future vets SCRM explaining how stem cell research is but also had a lot of fun running through x-rays taken from laboratory to the clinic, our visitors with the potential recruits. had plenty to find out about. With Zoe and Charles from The Pirbright We’ll be back next year so see you there for Institute discussing Schmallenberg and Foot a chat. 2 Directors Message lready half way through the year! The Atime has flown by – but what a productive period of time it has been. Construction of the first of the National Avian Research Facility (NARF) buildings is nearing completion and ground will be broken on the second in July. Alan Hart has joined The Roslin Institute as coordinator for the NARF and he will tell you more about the facility elsewhere in this newsletter. Development plans for the next phase of development at the Easter Bush Campus are well underway and we have been choosing between early design concepts for the new building, currently being referred to as the Hub. In addition to providing additional laboratory space for the rapidly expanding Roslin Institute, this building will provide bioincubator lab space, public exhibition space and important campus facilities such as a nursery, shop and gym. Funding for the build is currently secured from the Scottish Government and University of Edinburgh with further announcements due soon. I mentioned the Institute’s continued Pathology. Michael is currently part-time while he concludes work at MRC Harwell, but he will join us full time in October at which point he will be developing up the Comparative Pathology Centre at the East Bush Campus. Roslin’s partnerships are strengthening all the time. We are working with the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and Scotland’s Rural College on our submission to the REF2014 exercise. One thing that is crystal clear is the John James strength of the research that we have at the Easter expansion. This six months has seen the Bush Campus and it is a real encouragement in arrival of James Prendergast and John our mutual development of the site. Hickey, career track fellows in the Genetics We also welcomed to The Roslin Institute and Genomics Division. Building for a conference our friends from the other seven Institutes that receive strategic funding from the BBSRC. We used the occasion to agree between us a new grouping, the National Institutes of Bioscience (NIB), which will provide a combined voice and drive to deliver on the UK’s Bioscience strategy. NIB will have a formal launch later in the year and we will provide a lot more information about it Liam at that time. We also welcome Liam Morrison to the The final item I would like to make a note of Infection and Immunity Division as a group is the Student Research Day (full report in leader to continue his exciting work in the field this newsletter). I was once again delighted to of host-parasite interactions & pathogenesis. hear from our outstanding students and was The final new recruit so far this year is proud to see the quality of their presentations. Professor Michael Cheeseman who takes They are a credit to The Roslin Institute and I up the Chair in Veterinary and Comparative congratulate them all on their work. 3 Roslin in the News Appetite Genes are Key to Better Diets for Poultry $3m he welfare of poultry could be improved by Ta discovery about how chickens regulate their appetites. Roslin Institute scientists have identified how a chicken’s genetic make-up can affect the signals sent from its stomach to its brain that tell a chicken when it has had enough to eat. Poultry farmers often have to restrict food for chickens because some birds are insensitive to feelings of fullness and can overeat, affecting their ability to reproduce. The study could make it easier to develop methods to develop diets that reduce excess growth more naturally in these birds. Researchers say that genetic differences, which affect when chickens recognise when they have had enough to eat, could date back thousands of years when chickens were first domesticated and breeds were selected for their size. Dr Ian Dunn, who led the study, said: “The findings shed greater light on food intake in birds and help us understand why some breeds – in general the faster growing types of chickens – are more insensitive to feelings of fullness than others.” Localisation of the gene responsible for the differences in growth rate (CCKAR) within the The study, published in the American Journal chicken hypothalamus. a: magnocellularis preopticus (MPO). b: paraventricular nucleus of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism1, (PVN). c ventral periventricularis hypothalamic (PHNv).d: nucleus suprachiasmaticus focused on a protein called cholecystokinin pars medialis (SCNm), anterior medialis hypothalamic (AM), lateralis hypothalami (LHy), A receptor (CCKAR) that has a key role in nucleus ventrolateralis thalami (VLT), and lateralis anterior thalami (LA). e: supraopticus pars ventralis (SOv). f: fiber tracts and processes within the median eminence (ME). All sending signals linked to being full from the gut scale bars, including f, represent 10 um. to the brain. The researchers, funded by the Biotechnology inform research looking at appetite regulation in and Biological Sciences Research Council, other animals. found that some birds were better equipped Dr Dunn said: “All species regulate their than others at recognising the ligand, making appetites to make sure the amount of food them more effective in triggering signals of taken in is just the right to maintain body weight feeling full. and fat content. Our research has shown that The study involved cross-breeding a fast- there is genetic variation in the interpretation of growing meat production strain of chicken biological signals sent relating to being full. This with a relatively slow-growing, chicken. The also affects what would be considered to be the researchers looked at how the protein was natural body weight of chickens.” processed in both types of chickens and in the This work was completed with the assistance new cross breed. Maran; One of the breeds of of three vet undergraduate students: Stephanie chicken used in this study They showed that reduced levels of protein Ellison, Chloe Wardle and Camilla Hindar that recognizes the fullness signal also affected working between the Meddle and Dunn labs. the chicken’s natural body weight. 1 Dunn IC, Meddle SL, Wilson PW, Wardle C, Law AS, Bishop $3m Their findings back up the theory that, when V, Hindar C, Robertson GW, Burt DW, Ellison SJL, Morrice DM, poultry were domesticated thousands of years Hocking PM. Decreased expression of the satiety signal receptor CCKAR is responsible for increased growth and body weight during ago and bred for increased size, their appetite the domestication of chickens. American Journal of Physiology.2013 levels were changed. The study could also help 304 E909-E21. 4 $3m Pig Disease that Costs Millions is Target of Genetic Study fast mutating virus that affects pig herds The research will include look at whether to move forward with our collaborators.” A and costs pork producers millions of breeding for a specific gene variant, which Identifying gene variants that protect against pounds each year is being targeted by protects against PRSS, does not have knock- infection can be a tricky process, and scientists. on effects such as making the animal more researchers have to be certain that breeding A transatlantic research group is to tackle vulnerable to another disease. for a specific gene variant that makes pigs less porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome Although the exact economic impact of susceptible to PRRS doesn’t have unintended (PRRS), which leads to reproductive failure in PRRS has not yet been quantified in Europe, consequences, such as making the animal breeding stock and causes respiratory tract the virus is estimated to cost the American more vulnerable to another disease.