CD46 and mastitis: Bovine mastitis is the inflammation of the mammary gland caused primarily by bacteria, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus, and Escherichia coli. Therefore, we speculated that the CD46 gene likely plays a role in the defense of dairy cattle to Streptococcus induced mastitis by an alternative splicing mechanism caused by a functional mutation which causes an aberrant transcript.