Abstract
Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) are a major constraint for small ruminant production. Due to the rise of anthelmintic resistance throughout the world, alternative control strategies are needed. The development of GIN resistance breeding programs is a promising strategy. However, a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying genetic resistance might lead to more effective breeding programmes. In this study, we compare transcriptome profiling of abomasal mucosa and lymph node tissues from non-infected, resistant and susceptible infected Creole goats using RNA-sequencing. A total of 24 kids, 12 susceptible and 12 GIN resistant based on the estimated breeding value, were infected twice with 10,000 L3 Haemonchus contortus. Physiological and parasitological parameters were monitored during infection. Seven weeks after the second infection, extreme kids (n = 6 resistant and 6 susceptible), chosen on the basis of the fecal egg counts (FEC), and 3 uninfected control animals were slaughtered. Susceptible kids had significantly higher FEC compared with resistant kids during the second infection with no differences in worm burden, male and female worm count or establishment rate. A higher number of differentially expressed genes (DEG) were identified in infected compared with non-infected animals in both abomasal mucosa (792 DEG) and lymph nodes (1726 DEG). There were fewer DEG in resistant versus susceptible groups (342 and 450 DEG, in abomasal mucosa and lymph nodes respectively). ‘Cell cycle’ and ‘cell death and survival’ were the main identified networks in mucosal tissue when comparing infected versus non-infected kids. Antigen processing and presentation of peptide antigen via major histocompatibility complex class I were in the top biological functions for the DEG identified in lymph nodes. The TGFβ1 gene was one of the top 5 upstream DEG in mucosal tissue. Our results are one of the fist investigating differences in the expression profile induced by GIN infection in goats.
Highlights
Gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infection is one of the most important economic constraints in small ruminant production
The packed cell volume (PCV) values significantly decreased during the first challenge in both resistant and susceptible kids until 28 days post-infection (d.p.i.) with no significant difference between the groups (Fig 2a)
The PCV was negatively correlated with establishment rate (r = -0.66, P < 0.01) and other physiological variables, including fecal egg counts (FEC) (r = -0.47, P < 0.01), eosinophilia (r = -0.30, P < 0.01) and pepsinogen (r = -0.40, P < 0.01 Table 2)
Summary
Gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infection is one of the most important economic constraints in small ruminant production. These parasites have a negative impact on animal health and welfare, but their main effect is reduced productivity and economic return [1,2]. The improvement of host response against GIN through genetic selection of resistant lines or breeds is among the most promising strategies. Selection is in most studies mainly based on fecal egg count (FEC), some selection schemes include other relevant traits such as production and measures of anemia and blood eosinophilia under conditions of either natural or experimental infection with GIN [8,9,10,11]. The need for more studies on the goat model has become increasingly important since it was reported that goats develop a different set of strategies than sheep to regulate parasitic infections [26], and they may differ in the sequence for establishing immunity [27]
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