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Two PRNP Alleles Had Not Been Reported in Other European Red Deer Populations

Wild red deer stag standing in grassland
Research · Genetics & genomics

A genetic survey of red deer (Cervus elaphus) from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus identified four alleles of PRNP, the gene that encodes the cellular prion protein. Two of the alleles had not previously been reported from other European red deer populations. The researchers analysed 51 animals.

Four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) — differences at individual DNA bases — were detected in the protein-coding region of PRNP. One of them, at nucleotide position 676, means that position 226 of the prion protein can contain either glutamine (Q) or glutamic acid (E). The three genotypes at this position occurred at frequencies of 21.6% for QQ, 31.4% for QE and 47.1% for EE. The letters indicate which amino-acid variant was present at position 226 on the animal’s two copies of PRNP.

This position is biologically important because variation at amino acid 226 can influence chronic wasting disease (CWD) pathogenesis and host susceptibility to different CWD strains. Comparing their results with limited experimental data and PRNP sequences from North American wapiti affected by CWD, the authors concluded that the variation they found suggests potential CWD susceptibility in European red deer from Russia.

Sources and image credit

  1. Golosova, O. S., Kashinina, N. V., Tarasyan, K. K., & Kholodova, M. V. (2026). Prion protein gene (PRNP) variation in European red deer Cervus elaphus from Russia as a potential marker of resistance to chronic wasting disease in cervids. Russian Journal of Genetics, 62(2), 28–42. https://doi.org/10.7868/S3034510326020035Primary article, first public issue date 15 February 2026. The publisher abstract reports 51 red deer from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, four PRNP alleles including two not previously reported from other European red deer populations, four SNPs and the codon-226 genotype frequencies.

Image: Bramans — red deer (Cervus elaphus) stag photographed in Badia, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy, 23 August 2015; representative species image, not an animal from the study. Source: Wikimedia Commons. · CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Source

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