Zinc Deficiency-Like Syndrome in Fleckvieh Calves: Clinical and Pathological Findings and Differentiation from Bovine Hereditary Zinc Deficiency

Langenmayer, M.C.; Jung, S.; Majzoub-Altweck, M.; Trefz, F.M.; Seifert, C.; Knubben-Schweizer, G.; Fries, R.; Hermanns, W.; Gollnick, N.S.

I n recent years, Bavarian Fleckvieh calves, displaying marked dyskeratotic dermatitis in combination with a history of recurring episodes of respiratory and enteric diseases, attracted attention. These animals showed a striking clinical similarity to calves affected by bovine hereditary zinc deficiency (BHZD), a keratinization disorder caused by a mutation in the SLC39A4 gene. 1, 2 However, a molecular genetic study we conducted on 7 of the affected Fleckvieh calves excluded SLC39A4 as causative gene for the syndrome. 3 Genome-wide resequencing of 1 affected calf identified a nonsense mutation (p.W215X) in a phospholipase D encoding gene (PLD4), located on bovine chromosome 21, as most likely polymorphism. The disease has an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. A study on the progeny descending from carriers of the mutation showed a significant reduction of the survival rates (P 5 2.97 3 10 28 ). 3 Because of the phenotypic similarity to BHZD the condition was named zinc deficiency-like (ZDL) syndrome.