Two novel amino acid substitutions in highly conserved regions of prion protein (PrP) and a high frequency of a scrapie protective variant in native Ethiopian goats.

Two novel coding polymorphisms and a high frequency of a scrapie protective variant indicate a high level of genetic diversity in PRNP of Ethiopian goats. This finding increases the interest in exploring PRNP polymorphisms of native goat breeds in areas where cross breeding with foreign goats has rarely occurred.