BACKGROUND
ectodermal dysplasia  is a genetic disease characterized by abnormal development of tissues and organs of ectodermal origin, including teeth, hair, nails and sweat glands  <cit> .
there are different forms of ed, the most common of which is caused by mutations in x-linked ectodysplasin gene a .
it has been described in human  <cit> , mouse  <cit> , dog  <cit>  and cattle  <cit> .
common features shown by the affected individuals are hypodontia, sparse hair and absence of sweat glands.
numerous mutations in the x-linked eda gene have been identified as the cause of disease in human  <cit>  and mouse  <cit> .
in cattle, the gene eda is located on chromosome x q <dig>  <cit>  and encodes ectodyslpasin-a, a membrane protein expressed in keratinocytes, hair follicles and sweat glands, which is involved in the interaction between cell and cell and/or cell and matrix.
the eda gene may encode for two protein isoforms, eda <dig> and eda <dig>  that differ for the presence or absence of two aminoacids  <cit> .
these two isoforms are members of tfn family.
since the disease follows x-linked recessive transmission, only males present the full form, while heterozygous females  are asymptomatic or show slight symptoms, such as hypotrichosis and reduction in the number of teeth.
the genetic transmission of this disease in cattle was described by drögemüller and collaborators  <cit> , who found a deletion of the whole exon  <dig> of eda gene in an affected german holstein calves and proposed to use for the bovine disease the name of the homologous human syndrome.
the same authors subsequently described a g/t mutation at the beginning of intron  <dig> that leads to a defect in splicing and an in-frame protein deletion of  <dig> or  <dig> base pairs with respect to the eda <dig> and eda <dig> transcripts  <cit>  and a c/t snp at position  <dig> of exon  <dig> that causes a nonsense mutation of arginine  into a stop codon   <cit> .
recently a new case of ectodermal dysplasia was reported in danish red holstein cattle by karlskov-mortensen and collaborators  <cit> .
they found a new transcript variant including an insertion of  <dig> bp line fragment between exon <dig> and exon  <dig>
in our study we screened the eda gene in two affected calves and some of their close relatives, for a total of eight animals, in order to identify the mutations causing the disease in holstein friesian cattle breed.
RESULTS
cattle samples were screened for mutations through dna and rna sequence analysis.
by sequencing the dna of the sampled individuals, we identified a single nucleotide polymorphism  g/a at the 9th base of exon  <dig> .
both affected calves were hemizygous a/-, the mother and the four sisters were heterozygous g/a , the healthy brother was hemizygous g/- .
to verify if the mutation had effects on exon splicing we performed an analysis using human splicing finder software  <cit> .
the results revealed that the mutation is located within the exonic splicing enhancer  recognized by sr proteins.
at the rna level we performed reverse transcriptase pcr  and sequencing of the cdna.
in the affected calves a deletion in the amplified band of  <dig> bp, shown by healthy animals , compatible in size with the skipping of the whole exon  <dig> , was observed.
the mother and the four sisters presented two bands of  <dig> bp and  <dig> bp, corresponding to those of healthy and affected individuals respectively.
sequencing of the rt-pcr products revealed that the amplified fragment of the affected animals lacked exactly  <dig> bp, corresponding to exon  <dig>  at the protein level, the exon skipping leads to a frameshift and consequently to a premature stop codon.
the mutated protein is lacking in  <dig> amino acids  including the tfn domain .
discussion
the identification of mutations causing a genetic disease is of great economic importance as it allows diagnosing the healthy carriers, and then the eradication of the disease.
in this study we identified a new mutation in the bovine eda gene causing ectodermal dysplasia in holstein friesian cattle breed.
the g/a transversion we found in the affected calves causes a change from the glycine residue encoded by the wild type allele to a serine residue.
this missense mutation changes both amino acid sequence and protein structure causing deleterious effects.
several studies have shown that some missense mutations, located in exonic splicing regulatory elements, can cause diseases by altering the splicing machinery process  <cit> .
the mutation we identified causes the incorrect splicing of both gene isoforms .
in the mutated individuals the whole exon  <dig> is excluded from the final mrna sequence during the splicing process.
the accurate removal of introns from pre-mrna is essential for correct gene expression.
splicing is primarily regulated by splice-site motifs between intron and exon junctions  <cit> .
in addition to the splice-site motifs, several studies have shown that other sequences are involved in the regulation of splicing process  <cit> .
they form two classes of regulatory elements: exonic splicing enhancers , recognized by sr proteins, and exonic splicing silencers , recognized by hnrnp proteins  <cit> .
these sequences have been identified by experimental and computational approaches  <cit> .
in our study, the analysis of splicing revealed that the mutation is located within the exonic splicing enhancer  sequences recognized by srp <dig> protein.
the function of sr proteins is binding to exonic sequences and enhancing the identification of the flanking splice site  <cit> .
several studies have demonstrated that single point mutations in exonic splicing enhancers  lead to disease development  <cit> .
for example, a c/t mutation in ese sequence found in the human mitochondrial acetoacetyl-coa thiolase gene results in exon  <dig> skipping.
the protein is no more functional causing the mitochondrial acetoacetyl-coa thiolase  deficiency disorder  <cit> .
two silent substitutions in the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex  found in most patients with pdhc deficiency cause exon  <dig> skipping by disruption of a putative exonic splicing enhancer  <cit> .
the eda protein consists of a tfn domain for binding to the receptor, a collagen domain and cutting sites for furin.
the tnf domain sequence is strongly conserved between cattle, human, mouse and dog demonstrating the presence of a very important motif in this region.
the mutation we discovered influences the splicing process leading to the formation of a truncated protein.
in the individuals presenting the described g > a transversion, srp <dig> protein is no longer able to recognise the ese sequence resulting in skipping of exon  <dig> .
at the protein level, this leads to a frameshift deletion causing the loss of the tfn domain in the mutated ectodysplasin.
the truncated eda protein is no longer functional thus causing the ectodermal dysplasia disease.
recently a mutation that leads to a truncated eda protein was reported in danish red holstein cattle.
this mutation is an insertion of a line element between exon <dig> and exon <dig> in the eda transcript, causing a frameshift which introduces a premature stop codon in the beginning of exon  <dig>  <cit> .
our results are in agreement with the data of drögemüller et al.
<cit> , reporting a point mutation within the 5' splice site of intron  <dig> in cattle eda gene.
the mutated transcript described by those authors uses a cryptic internal splice acceptor site within exon  <dig>  the mutation we identified is located within the same cryptic splice site: this is a further confirmation supporting the involvement of the snp we described in the splicing process.
CONCLUSIONS
we identified a new single nucleotide mutation that causes ectodermal dysplasia in holstein friesian cattle breed.
the analysis of this snp allows the identification of the three possible genotypes  and thus can be used to highlight carrier cows that can transmit the disease to the offspring.
ectodysplasia causes a significant economic loss: the use of heterozygous carriers in breeding results in a 25% chance of birth of an affected animal and 25% of birth of a carrier.
therefore, the early screening for heterozygotes that are carriers of the described mutation but do not exhibit the disease would particularly useful.

 ectodermal dysplasia is a genetic disease characterized by abnormal development of tissues and organs of ectodermal origin, including teeth, hair, nails and sweat glands. there are different forms of ed, the most common of which is caused by mutations in x-linked ectodysplasin gene a. it has been described in human, mouse, dog and cattle. common features shown by the affected individuals are hypodontia, sparse hair and absence of sweat glands. numerous mutations in the x-linked eda gene have been identified as the cause of disease in human and mouse. in cattle, the gene eda is located on chromosome x q and encodes ectodyslpasin-a, a membrane protein expressed in keratinocytes, hair follicles and sweat glands, which is involved in the interaction between cell and cell and/or cell and matrix. the eda gene may encode for two protein isoforms, eda and eda that differ for the presence or absence of two aminoacids. these two isoforms are members of tfn family. since the disease follows x-linked recessive transmission, only males present the full form, while heterozygous females are asymptomatic or show slight symptoms, such as hypotrichosis and reduction in the number of teeth. the genetic transmission of this disease in cattle was described by drögemüller and collaborators, who found a deletion of the whole exon of eda gene in an affected german holstein calves and proposed to use for the bovine disease the name of the homologous human syndrome. the same authors subsequently described a g/t mutation at the beginning of intron that leads to a defect in splicing and an in-frame protein deletion of or base pairs with respect to the eda and eda transcripts and a c/t snp at position of exon that causes a nonsense mutation of arginine into a stop codon. recently a new case of ectodermal dysplasia was reported in danish red holstein cattle by karlskov-mortensen and collaborators. they found a new transcript variant including an insertion of bp line fragment between exon and exon in our study we screened the eda gene in two affected calves and some of their close relatives, for a total of eight animals, in order to identify the mutations causing the disease in holstein friesian cattle breed.  cattle samples were screened for mutations through dna and rna sequence analysis. by sequencing the dna of the sampled individuals, we identified a single nucleotide polymorphism g/a at the 9th base of exon. both affected calves were hemizygous a/-, the mother and the four sisters were heterozygous g/a, the healthy brother was hemizygous g/-. to verify if the mutation had effects on exon splicing we performed an analysis using human splicing finder software. the results revealed that the mutation is located within the exonic splicing enhancer recognized by sr proteins. at the rna level we performed reverse transcriptase pcr and sequencing of the cdna. in the affected calves a deletion in the amplified band of bp, shown by healthy animals, compatible in size with the skipping of the whole exon, was observed. the mother and the four sisters presented two bands of bp and bp, corresponding to those of healthy and affected individuals respectively. sequencing of the rt-pcr products revealed that the amplified fragment of the affected animals lacked exactly bp, corresponding to exon at the protein level, the exon skipping leads to a frameshift and consequently to a premature stop codon. the mutated protein is lacking in amino acids including the tfn domain. discussion the identification of mutations causing a genetic disease is of great economic importance as it allows diagnosing the healthy carriers, and then the eradication of the disease. in this study we identified a new mutation in the bovine eda gene causing ectodermal dysplasia in holstein friesian cattle breed. the g/a transversion we found in the affected calves causes a change from the glycine residue encoded by the wild type allele to a serine residue. this missense mutation changes both amino acid sequence and protein structure causing deleterious effects. several studies have shown that some missense mutations, located in exonic splicing regulatory elements, can cause diseases by altering the splicing machinery process. the mutation we identified causes the incorrect splicing of both gene isoforms. in the mutated individuals the whole exon is excluded from the final mrna sequence during the splicing process. the accurate removal of introns from pre-mrna is essential for correct gene expression. splicing is primarily regulated by splice-site motifs between intron and exon junctions. in addition to the splice-site motifs, several studies have shown that other sequences are involved in the regulation of splicing process. they form two classes of regulatory elements: exonic splicing enhancers, recognized by sr proteins, and exonic splicing silencers, recognized by hnrnp proteins. these sequences have been identified by experimental and computational approaches. in our study, the analysis of splicing revealed that the mutation is located within the exonic splicing enhancer sequences recognized by srp protein. the function of sr proteins is binding to exonic sequences and enhancing the identification of the flanking splice site. several studies have demonstrated that single point mutations in exonic splicing enhancers lead to disease development. for example, a c/t mutation in ese sequence found in the human mitochondrial acetoacetyl-coa thiolase gene results in exon skipping. the protein is no more functional causing the mitochondrial acetoacetyl-coa thiolase deficiency disorder. two silent substitutions in the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex found in most patients with pdhc deficiency cause exon skipping by disruption of a putative exonic splicing enhancer. the eda protein consists of a tfn domain for binding to the receptor, a collagen domain and cutting sites for furin. the tnf domain sequence is strongly conserved between cattle, human, mouse and dog demonstrating the presence of a very important motif in this region. the mutation we discovered influences the splicing process leading to the formation of a truncated protein. in the individuals presenting the described g > a transversion, srp protein is no longer able to recognise the ese sequence resulting in skipping of exon. at the protein level, this leads to a frameshift deletion causing the loss of the tfn domain in the mutated ectodysplasin. the truncated eda protein is no longer functional thus causing the ectodermal dysplasia disease. recently a mutation that leads to a truncated eda protein was reported in danish red holstein cattle. this mutation is an insertion of a line element between exon and exon in the eda transcript, causing a frameshift which introduces a premature stop codon in the beginning of exon. our results are in agreement with the data of drögemüller et al., reporting a point mutation within the 5' splice site of intron in cattle eda gene. the mutated transcript described by those authors uses a cryptic internal splice acceptor site within exon the mutation we identified is located within the same cryptic splice site: this is a further confirmation supporting the involvement of the snp we described in the splicing process.  we identified a new single nucleotide mutation that causes ectodermal dysplasia in holstein friesian cattle breed. the analysis of this snp allows the identification of the three possible genotypes and thus can be used to highlight carrier cows that can transmit the disease to the offspring. ectodysplasia causes a significant economic loss: the use of heterozygous carriers in breeding results in a 25% chance of birth of an affected animal and 25% of birth of a carrier. therefore, the early screening for heterozygotes that are carriers of the described mutation but do not exhibit the disease would particularly useful. 
x-linked anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia is a disorder characterized by abnormal development of tissues and organs of ectodermal origin caused by mutations in the eda gene. the mutation determines the deletion of the entire exon in the rna processing, causing a severe alteration of the protein structure and thus the disease. the bovine eda gene encodes the ectodysplasin a, a membrane protein expressed in keratinocytes, hair follicles and sweat glands, which is involved in the interactions between cell and cell and/or cell and matrix. we identified a new single nucleotide polymorphism at the 9th base of exon in the eda gene in two calves of holstein friesian cattle breed affected by ectodermal dysplasia. we identified a mutation, never described before, that changes the regulation of alternative splicing in the eda gene and causes ectodermal dysplasia in cattle. four mutations causing ectodermal dysplasia in cattle have been described so far.
 x-linked anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia is a disorder characterized by abnormal development of tissues and organs of ectodermal origin caused by mutations in the eda gene. the bovine eda gene encodes the ectodysplasin a, a membrane protein expressed in keratinocytes, hair follicles and sweat glands, which is involved in the interactions between cell and cell and/or cell and matrix. four mutations causing ectodermal dysplasia in cattle have been described so far.  we identified a new single nucleotide polymorphism at the 9th base of exon in the eda gene in two calves of holstein friesian cattle breed affected by ectodermal dysplasia. this snp is located in the exonic splicing enhancer recognized by srp protein. as a consequence, the spliceosome machinery is no longer able to recognize the sequence as exonic and causes exon skipping. the mutation determines the deletion of the entire exon in the rna processing, causing a severe alteration of the protein structure and thus the disease.  we identified a mutation, never described before, that changes the regulation of alternative splicing in the eda gene and causes ectodermal dysplasia in cattle. the analysis of the snp allows the identification of carriers that can transmit the disease to the offspring. this mutation can thus be exploited for a rational and efficient selection of unequivocally healthy cows for breeding. 