Abstract
African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a macrophage-tropic virus responsible for ASF, a transboundary disease that threatens swine production world-wide. Since there are no vaccines available to control ASF after an outbreak, obtaining an understanding of the virus-host interaction is important for developing new intervention strategies. In this study, a whole transcriptomic RNA-Seq method was used to characterize differentially expressed genes in pigs infected with a low pathogenic ASFV isolate, OUR T88/3 (OURT), or the highly pathogenic Georgia 2007/1 (GRG). After infection, pigs infected with OURT showed no or few clinical signs; whereas, GRG produced clinical signs consistent with acute ASF. RNA-Seq detected the expression of ASFV genes from the whole blood of the GRG, but not the OURT pigs, consistent with the pathotypes of these strains and the replication of GRG in circulating monocytes. Even though GRG and OURT possess different pathogenic properties, there was significant overlap in the most upregulated host genes. A small number of differentially expressed microRNAs were also detected in GRG and OURT pigs. These data confirm previous studies describing the response of macrophages and lymphocytes to ASFV infection, as well as reveal unique gene pathways upregulated in response to infection with GRG.
Highlights
African swine fever virus (ASFV) is an enveloped virus that contains a 170–190 kb double stranded DNA genome encoding 150–167 genes
We applied RNA-Seq to analyze gene expression in whole blood from pigs following infection with OUR T88/3 (OURT) or GRG. The results show both common and unique gene expression patterns between OURT and GRG, including the upregulated expression of host genes associated with macrophages and NK cells, and viral genes associated with modification of host immunity
A generation sequencing approach was used to characterize the transcriptome changes during infection with OURT, a low virulence strain of ASFV, and a highly pathogenic isolate, GRG
Summary
ASFV is an enveloped virus that contains a 170–190 kb double stranded DNA genome encoding 150–167 genes. The virus primarily targets cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system, including monocytes that circulate in the blood[6,7,8,9] It is the unique interaction between ASFV and its host macrophage that determine the pathogenic outcome. We applied RNA-Seq to analyze gene expression in whole blood from pigs following infection with OURT or GRG. The results show both common and unique gene expression patterns between OURT and GRG, including the upregulated expression of host genes associated with macrophages and NK cells, and viral genes associated with modification of host immunity
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