Scrapie genotyping

Select your breeds for Scrapie resistance

Eurofins is one of the most experienced and acknowledged laboratories for Scrapie Genotyping in Europe.

With reference to the European Commission’s decision of February 13, 2003, each Member State is going to put into place a breeding programme to select for resistance to TSE in each of its sheep breeds.

We can analyse up to 5000 sheep weekly in our Germany-based laboratory and we are  proud to work with several of the leading breeder associations across Europe.

We successfully take part in interlaboratory tests carried out by

• International Society of Animal Genetics (ISAG)
• The Federal Research Institution (FAL)
• The German Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Feeding, and Agriculture (BMVEL)

Special benefits of our Direct Sequencing Approach

Using our method of direct DNA sequencing, we can detect all known and even new mutations with very high reliability. Unlike other, indirect methods, we can detect the rare K (Lys) variant in codon 171 without extra processing and extra costs. Similarly our results are not biassed by known mutations in the codons 168 and 175. So direct sequencing is the most reliable and cost effective method for scrapie genotyping.

No extra charge for analysing rare and new mutations!

Just contact us to discuss the individual analysis of your sheep / goats for Scrapie resistance!

We are certified according to ISO 17025.

Is your sheep / goat from G1 genotype?

To this day there is no method using living sheep to ensure whether one had been in contact with the Scrapie pathogen or not. By the genetic test of Scrapie Genotyping one can gauge however the resistance of the sheep against the disease after contact with the pathogen.

The animals are classified in different genotype classes (e.g. in Germany: G1 – G5) and based on this classification they can be selected for breeding to increase TSE resistance in the population. Scrapie Genotyping is also important for checking healthy animals after having contact with infected sheep.

Decisive for the risk classification are the amino acids at three particular positions in the prion protein, which can be:

Alanine (A)  Histidine (H)  Glutamine (Q)  Arginine (R)  Valine (V)

By Scrapie Genotyping all variants (mutations) in the codons for these amino acids at position 136, 154, and 171 are determined and the genotypes are classified, e.g. according to the recommendation of the project group of the German Society of Breeding (DGfZ):

How to send in samples...

...and how long does it take?

Sample submission

We accept EDTA blood (1 - 3 ml) or tissue samples from punched ear cartilage.

Punched ear cartilage samples can be taken e.g. with common earmark systems like FlexoPLUS from Caisley or TypiFix from Agrobiogen.

Duration of examination and prices

The results are available within two weeks.
For prices please contact us.

No extra charge for analysis of the K-variant in Codon 171 and further mutations in the codons 168 und 175!

Please contact us to discuss your Scrapie genotyping project in detail.