Abstract
BackgroundApicomplexan protozoans of the genus Eimeria cause coccidiosis, one of the most economically relevant parasitic diseases in chickens. The lack of a complete understanding of molecular mechanisms in the host-parasite interaction limits the development of effective control measures. In the present study, RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) was applied to investigate the host mRNA profiles of the cecal mucosa collected at day 5 post-infection with Eimeria maxima (EM).ResultsTotal RNA from cecal samples of the uninfected naïve control and the EM groups was used to make libraries, generating 354,924,372 and 356,229,250 usable reads, respectively, which were assembled into a total of 386,088 high-quality unigenes (transcripts) in Trinity software. RNA-Seq analysis of cecal samples in the two groups revealed 332 upregulated and 363 downregulated genes with significant differences (P ≤ 0.05), including several significant immune-related gene families, such as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I alpha chain, granzyme A and immunoglobulin subtype genes among upregulated differentially expressed genes. In addition, a total of 60 clusters of differentiation (CD) molecular genes and 570 novel genes were found. The completeness of the assembled transcriptome was further assessed using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, Gene ontology (GO), eggNOG and CAZy for gene annotation. The broad gene categories represented by the highly differentiated host genes suggested enrichment in immune responses, and downregulation in the metabolic pathway, MARK signaling pathway, vascular smooth muscle contraction, and proteins processing in endoplasmic reticulum after EM infection.ConclusionsEimeria maxima induced statistically significant differences in the cecal mucosal gene expression of infected chickens. These findings provide new insights into the host-parasite interaction and enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanism of avian coccidiosis.
Highlights
Apicomplexan protozoans of the genus Eimeria cause coccidiosis, one of the most economically relevant parasitic diseases in chickens
One study has indicated that both antibody and cell-mediated immune responses are activated after coccidiosis, cell-mediated immunity plays a major role in disease resistance against coccidiosis [13]
Study design coccidiosis, caused by Eimeria spp., is an important parasitic infection of chickens that is responsible for significant economic losses in the poultry industry, in-depth knowledge of the host-parasite interaction at the transcriptional level is limited
Summary
Apicomplexan protozoans of the genus Eimeria cause coccidiosis, one of the most economically relevant parasitic diseases in chickens. Coccidiosis, caused by the apicomplexan protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria, is one of the most economically relevant enteric infectious diseases affecting commercial poultry, and significantly affects animal welfare and. One study has indicated that both antibody and cell-mediated immune responses are activated after coccidiosis, cell-mediated immunity plays a major role in disease resistance against coccidiosis [13]. Unlike those for many protozoan parasites, the primary target tissue for coccidia is the intestinal epithelium. Coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis have caused $2 and $6 billion economic losses annually to the worldwide poultry industry, respectively [5, 21]
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