Lysozyme in Livestock: A Guide to Selection for Disease Resistance: a Review

Lysozyme is a ubiquitous enzyme found in all major taxa of living organisms having diverse role starting from digestion to immune response. In livestock two major lysozyme types are present i.e. g-type (goose-type) and c-type (chicken type) classified depending on their origin, primary structure, three dimensional structure, biochemical as well as enzymatic properties. The course of this review covers brief introduction about the enzyme, its historical prospective, types and distribution, biochemistry and biological action with special reference to the antibacterial properties as well as the structural organization of concerned gene. It also covers the attempts to explore the role of lysozyme in disease biology, possibility of lysozyme as a conventional marker as well as the role of lysozyme gene as a candidate gene for future breeding for disease resistance in general and mastitis resistance in particular. The biotechnological approach to modulate the antimicrobial activity by controlling expression level of the lysozyme gene in native and recombinant form is also discussed.