Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Virus and Prion Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #355566
Research Project: Intervention Strategies to Control Endemic and New and Emerging Viral Diseases of Swine

Location: Virus and Prion Research

Title: Differentially expressed miRNAs and tRNA genes effect host homeostasis during highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus infections in young pigs

Author
item FLEMING, DAMARIUS - ORISE FELLOW
item MILLER, LAURA

Submitted to: Frontiers in Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/2/2019
Publication Date: 8/2/2019
Citation: Fleming, D.S., Miller, L.C. 2019. Differentially expressed miRNAs and tRNA genes effect host homeostasis during highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus infections in young pigs. Frontiers in Genetics. 10:691. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2019.00691.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2019.00691

Interpretive Summary: A non-coding RNA (ncRNA) is an RNA molecule that is not translated into a protein. Noncoding RNAs belong to several groups and have regulatory roles in cellular processes. Abundant and functionally important types of non-coding RNAs include transfer RNAs (tRNAs) and small RNAs such as microRNAs (miRNAs). For decades, researchers have been exploring the many complications to swine health caused by porcine reproductive and respiratory virus (PRRSV) in order to find ways to reduce losses in commercial pig populations. This study examined the expression profile of miRNA and tRNA expressed in whole blood between healthy and highly pathogenic PRRSV-infected pigs. Overall, the results will serve to bring researchers closer to elucidating how gene function in the pig can become dysregulated due to PRRSV through changes in miRNA and tRNA expression.

Technical Abstract: Porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a single stranded RNA virus member that infects pigs and causes losses to the commercial industry reaching upwards of a billion dollars annually in combined direct and indirect costs. The virus can be separated into etiologies that contain multiple heterologous low and highly pathogenic strains. Recently the United States has begun to see an increase in heterologous type 2 PRRSV strains of higher virulence. The high pathogenicity of these strains can drastically alter host immune responses and the ability of the animal to maintain homeostasis. The loss of homeostasis denotes underlying changes in gene and regulatory element expression profiles. In order to investigate the impact sncRNA expression has on homeostasis, the study examined host differential expression of miRNA and tRNA molecules during infection with a highly pathogenic PRRSV (HP-PRRSV) strain. We accomplished this using transcriptomic analysis of whole blood taken from either control or infected pigs at several timepoints. The analysis returned a total of 149 statistically significant (FDR less than or equal to 0.15) miRNAs and tRNAs that were evaluated for possible pro and anti-viral effects. The results indicated that HP-PRRSV infection effects host homeostasis at the epigenetic level through changes in miRNA and tRNA expression that target and influence the function of host immune, metabolic, and structural pathways.