Susceptibility to prion diseases is largely determined by the sequence of the prion protein gene (PRNP), which encodes the prion protein (PrP). The recent emergence of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in Europe has highlighted the need to investigate PRNP gene diversity in European deer species, to better predict their susceptibility to CWD. Here we report a large genetic survey of six British deer species, including red (Cervus elaphus), sika (Cervus nippon), roe (Capreolus capreolus), fallow (Dama dama), muntjac (Muntiacus reevesii), and Chinese water deer (Hydropotes inermis), which establishes PRNP haplotype and genotype frequencies. Two smaller data sets from red deer in Norway and the Czech Republic are also included for comparison. Overall red deer show the most PRNP variation, with non-synonymous/coding polymorphisms at codons 98, 168, 226 and 247, which vary markedly in frequency between different regions. Polymorphisms P168S and I247L were only found in Scottish and Czech populations, respectively. T98A was found in all populations except Norway and the south of England. Significant regional differences in genotype frequencies were observed within both British and European red deer populations. Other deer species showed less variation, particularly roe and fallow deer, in which identical PRNP gene sequences were found in all individuals analysed. Based on comparison with PRNP sequences of North American cervids affected by CWD and limited experimental challenge data, these results suggest that a high proportion of wild deer in Great Britain may be susceptible to CWD.

Department of Biosciences Durham University South Road Durham DH1 3LE UK

Department of Zoology Fisheries Hydrobiology and Apiculture Faculty of AgriSciences Mendel University in Brno Zemědělská 1 613 00 Brno Czech Republic

Division of Infection and Immunity The Roslin Institute and The Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies University of Edinburgh Midlothian EH259RG UK

Institute of Evolutionary Biology School of Biological Sciences University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK

Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences Květná 8 603 65 Brno Czech Republic

Norwegian University of Life Sciences Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Oslo Norway

The Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies University of Edinburgh Midlothian EH259RG UK

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