Omic approaches to a better understanding of mastitis in dairy cows

Mastitis, which is caused by infection of the mammary gland is the most important disease problem facing dairy farmers. While the disease has been studied for decades in order to determine better diagnosis and treatment, it is only recently that the full panoply of advanced biotechnological methodologies has been applied that are needed to bring a systems biology approach to investigations. Molecular investigations using analyte-specific immunoassays, such as for the acute phase proteins haptoglobin and mammary-associated serum amyloid A3 in milk have introduced possibilities for monitoring the host inflammatory response. The omics revolution in biology, with genomics being harnessed especially for identification of the causative pathogens of mastitis, has enhanced dissection of the mammary microbiome. The application of proteomics, peptidomics and metabolomics to the diagnosis and pathophysiology of mastitis, in contrast, is in its infancy though the potential of these advanced tools of biological research is clear as they are applied in a systems biology analysis of this major health problem of dairy cows