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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Animal Biosciences & Biotechnology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #279775
Title: Analysis of global transcriptional responses of chicken following primary and secondary Eimeria acervulina infections

Author
item KIM, CHUL - Theragen Bio Institute
item Lillehoj, Hyun
item HONG, YEONG - Desiderio Finamore Veterinary Research Institute (FEPAGRO)
item KEELER, CALVIN - University Of Delaware
item LILLEHOJ, ERIK - University Of Maryland

Submitted to: BioMed Central (BMC) Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/21/2012
Publication Date: 7/30/2012
Citation: Kim, C.H., Lillehoj, H.S., Hong, Y.H., Keeler, C.L., Lillehoj, E.P. 2012. Analysis of global transcriptional responses of chicken following primary and secondary Eimeria acervulina infections . BioMed Central (BMC) Proceedings. P14.

Interpretive Summary: The lack of basic understanding of the nature of host immune response which is involved in intestinal innate immune response to Eimeria hinders our ability to develop a logical disease prevention strategy against intestinal parasitic diseases. In this paper, ARS scientists used chicken intestinal microarray to carry out genome-wide expression analysis of intestinal genes which are associated with host innate immune response to Eimeria. Clear differences in host response to primary and secondary infections with Eimeria were noted following comprehensive gene ontology analysis. In general, primary infection significantly modulated the levels of mRNAs for genes involved in the metabolism of lipids and carbohydrates as well as those for innate immune-related genes. By contrast, secondary infection increased the levels of transcripts encoded by genes related to humoral immunity and reduced the levels of transcripts for the innate immune-related genes. Because the observed modulation in transcript levels for gene related to energy metabolism and immunity occurred concurrent with the clinical signs of coccidiosis, these results suggest that altered expression of a specific set of host genes induced by Eimeria infection may be responsible, in part, for the observed reduction in body weight gain and inflammatory gut damage that characterizes avian coccidiosis. These results illustrate the utility of the avian intestinal cDNA microarray for elucidating the complexity of host-pathogen interaction. These new information will provide valuable knowledge for developing novel strategies for disease control of intestinal protozoan infections. More importantly, the genes identified in this report represent novel targets for future genetic modification strategies to enhance disease resistance of broiler chickens.

Technical Abstract: Characterization of host transcriptional responses during coccidia infections can provide new clues for the development of alternative disease control strategies against these complex protozoan pathogens. In the current study, we compared chicken duodenal transcriptome profiles following primary and secondary infections with Eimeria acervulina using a 9.6K avian intestinal intraepithelial lymphocyte cDNA microarray (AVIELA). Gene Ontology analysis showed that primary infection significantly modulated the levels of mRNAs for genes involved in the metabolism of lipids and carbohydrates as well as those for innate immune-related genes. By contrast, secondary infection increased the levels of transcripts encoded by genes related to humoral immunity and reduced the levels of transcripts for the innate immune-related genes. The observed modulation in transcript levels for gene related to energy metabolism and immunity occurred concurrent with the clinical signs of coccidiosis. Our results suggest that altered expression of a specific set of host genes induced by Eimeria infection may be responsible, in part, for the observed reduction in body weight gain and inflammatory gut damage that characterizes avian coccidiosis.