Transcriptomic analysis of caecal tissue in inbred chicken lines that exhibit heritable differences in resistance to Campylobacter jejuni.

BACKGROUND: Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in humans and the handling or consumption of contaminated poultry meat is a key source of infection. Selective breeding of poultry that exhibit elevated resistance to Campylobacter is an attractive control strategy. Here we studied the global transcriptional response of inbred chicken lines that differ in resistance to C. jejuni colonisation at a key site of bacterial persistence. RESULTS: Three-week-old chickens of line 61 and N were inoculated orally with C. jejuni strain M1 and caecal contents and tonsils were sampled at 1 and 5 days post-infection. Caecal colonisation was significantly lower in line 61 compared to line N at 1 day post-infection, but not 5 days post-infection. RNA-Seq analysis of caecal tonsils of both lines revealed a limited response to C. jejuni infection compared to age-matched uninfected controls. In line N at days 1 and 5 post-infection, just 8 and 3 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were detected (fold-change > 2 and false-discovery rate of < 0.05) relative to uninfected controls, respectively. In the relatively resistant line 61, a broader response to C. jejuni was observed, with 69 DEGs relating to immune regulation, cell signalling and metabolism at 1 day post-infection. However, by day 5 post-infection, no DEGs were detected. By far, the greatest number of DEGs were between uninfected birds of the two lines implying that differential resistance to C. jejuni is intrinsic. Of these genes, several Major Histocompatibility Complex class I-related genes (MHCIA1, MHCBL2 and MHCIY) and antimicrobial peptides (MUC2, AvBD10 and GZMA) were expressed to a greater extent in line N. Two genes within quantitative trait loci associated with C. jejuni colonisation were also more highly expressed in line N (ASIC4 and BZFP2). Quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR analysis of a subset of transcripts confirmed the RNA-Seq results. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate a limited transcriptional response in the caecal tonsils of inbred chickens to intestinal colonisation by Campylobacter but identify a large number of differentially transcribed genes between lines 61 and N that may underlie variation in heritable resistance to C. jejuni.

The Genomic Architecture of Fowl Typhoid Resistance in Commercial Layers.

Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum causes devastating outbreaks of fowl typhoid across the globe, especially in developing countries. With the use of antimicrobial agents being reduced due to legislation and the absence of licensed vaccines in some parts of the world, an attractive complementary control strategy is to breed chickens for increased resistance to Salmonella. The potential for genetic control of salmonellosis has been demonstrated by experimental challenge of inbred populations. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with resistance have been identified in many genomic regions. A major QTL associated with systemic salmonellosis has been identified in a region termed SAL1. In the present study, two outbreaks of fowl typhoid in 2007 and 2012 in the United Kingdom were used to investigate the genetic architecture of Salmonella resistance in commercial laying hens. In the first outbreak 100 resistant and 150 susceptible layers were genotyped using 11 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and 3 microsatellite markers located in the previously identified SAL1 region on chromosome 5. From the second outbreak 100 resistant and 200 susceptible layers, belonging to a different line, were genotyped with a high-density (600 K) genome-wide SNP array. Substantial heritability estimates were obtained in both populations (h 2 = 0.22 and 0.26, for the layers in the first and second outbreak, respectively). Significant associations with three markers on chromosome 5 located close to AKT1 and SIVA1 genes, coding for RAC-alpha serine/threonine protein kinase, and the CD27-binding protein SIVA1, respectively, were identified in the first outbreak. From analysis of the second outbreak, eight genome-wide significant associations with Salmonella resistance were identified on chromosomes 1, 6, 7, 11, 23, 24, 26, 28 and several others with suggestive genome-wide significance were found. Pathway and network analysis revealed the presence of many innate immune pathways related to Salmonella resistance. Although, significant associations with SNPs located in the SAL1 locus were not identified by the genome-wide scan for layers from the second outbreak, pathway analysis revealed P13K/AKT signaling as the most significant pathway. In summary, resistance to fowl typhoid is a heritable polygenic trait that could possibly be enhanced through selective breeding.