Porcine Toll-like receptor 1, 6, and 10 genes: Complete sequencing of genomic region and expression analysis

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognize various microbial components and play key roles in activating the innate immune system. Hence, their function is important in swine infectious diseases. We completely determined 173,804 bp of nucleotide sequence of a genomic region including porcine TLR6 and the newly identified porcine TLR homologues TLR1 and TLR10. The porcine genomic structure of these genes was highly conserved in comparison with the corresponding region in humans. Analysis of their expression in porcine tissues showed differences in expression patterns between porcine TLR10 and TLR1 or TLR6. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis of the cytoplasmic regions of TLR genes suggested that the signal transduction pathway of TLR10 was different from those of TLR1 and TLR6. We also developed six polymorphic microsatellite markers within this genomic region; these markers will be valuable for association studies between TLR genes and resistance or susceptibility to infectious diseases in swine.