Pregnancy-Associated Changes of IgG and Serum N-Glycosylation in Camel (Camelus dromedarius).

The dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) is an agriculturally important species of high economic value but of low reproductive efficiency. Serum and IgG N-glycosylation are affected by physiological and pathogenic changes and might therefore be a useful diagnostic tool in camel livestock management. This study presents the first comprehensive annotation of the N-glycome from dromedary camel serum as well as their single-domain and conventional antibodies and its subsequent application for camel pregnancy diagnostics. N-glycans were released by PNGaseF, labeled with 2-aminobenzamide (2-AB), and analyzed by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography with fluorescent detection (HILIC-UPLC-FLD), enzymatic sequencing and mass spectrometry (MS). The use of a high-throughput robotic platform for sample preparation allowed the rapid generation of glycomics data from pregnant (n = 8) and nonpregnant (n = 8) camels of the Majaheem and Wadha breed. IgG N-glycans dominate the glycan profile of camel serum and present a mixture of core-fucosylated and noncore-fucosylated N-glycans which can contain N-glycolylneuraminic and N-acetylneuraminic acid. Significant pregnancy-associated but breed-independent increases in galactosylation, core-fucosylation, sialylation, and decreases in serum O-acetylation were observed. The monitoring of IgG and serum N-glycosylation presents an attractive complementary test for camel pregnancy diagnostics and presents an interesting tool for biomarker discovery in camel health and breeding.

MERS-CoV in Upper Respiratory Tract and Lungs of Dromedary Camels, Saudi Arabia, 2013-2014.

To assess the temporal dynamics of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in dromedary camels, specimens were collected at 1-2 month intervals from 2 independent groups of animals during April 2013-May 2014 in Al-Ahsa Province, Saudi Arabia, and tested for MERS-CoV RNA by reverse transcription PCR. Of 96 live camels, 28 (29.2%) nasal swab samples were positive; of 91 camel carcasses, 56 (61.5%) lung tissue samples were positive. Positive samples were more commonly found among young animals (<4 years of age) than adults (>4 years of age). The proportions of positive samples varied by month for both groups; detection peaked during November 2013 and January 2014 and declined in March and May 2014. These findings further our understanding of MERS-CoV infection in dromedary camels and may help inform intervention strategies to reduce zoonotic infections.

A comparative study of free oligosaccharides in the milk of domestic animals.

The present study was conducted to obtain a comprehensive overview of oligosaccharides present in the milk of a variety of important domestic animals including cows, goats, sheep, pigs, horses and dromedary camels. Using an analytical workflow that included ultra-performance liquid chromatography-hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight MS, detailed oligosaccharide libraries were established. The partial or full characterisation of the neutral/fucosylated, phosphorylated and sialylated structures was facilitated by sequencing with linkage- and sugar-specific exoglycosidases. Relative peak quantification of the 2-aminobenzamide-labelled oligosaccharides provided additional information. Milk from domestic animals contained a much larger variety of complex oligosaccharides than was previously assumed, and thirteen of these structures have been identified previously in human milk. The direct comparison of the oligosaccharide mixtures reflects their role in the postnatal maturation of different types of gastrointestinal systems, which, in this way, are prepared for certain post-weaning diets. The potential value of animal milk for the commercial extraction of oligosaccharides to be used in human and animal health is highlighted.

Sequencing, analysis, and annotation of expressed sequence tags for Camelus dromedarius.

Despite its economical, cultural, and biological importance, there has not been a large scale sequencing project to date for Camelus dromedarius. With the goal of sequencing complete DNA of the organism, we first established and sequenced camel EST libraries, generating 70,272 reads. Following trimming, chimera check, repeat masking, cluster and assembly, we obtained 23,602 putative gene sequences, out of which over 4,500 potentially novel or fast evolving gene sequences do not carry any homology to other available genomes. Functional annotation of sequences with similarities in nucleotide and protein databases has been obtained using Gene Ontology classification. Comparison to available full length cDNA sequences and Open Reading Frame (ORF) analysis of camel sequences that exhibit homology to known genes show more than 80% of the contigs with an ORF>300 bp and approximately 40% hits extending to the start codons of full length cDNAs suggesting successful characterization of camel genes. Similarity analyses are done separately for different organisms including human, mouse, bovine, and rat. Accompanying web portal, CAGBASE (http://camel.kacst.edu.sa/), hosts a relational database containing annotated EST sequences and analysis tools with possibility to add sequences from public domain. We anticipate our results to provide a home base for genomic studies of camel and other comparative studies enabling a starting point for whole genome sequencing of the organism.