Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Endemic Poultry Viral Diseases Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #302850
Title: Comparative metagenomic analysis of the enteric viromes from specific-pathogen free (SPF) chickens placed on broiler farms with enteric disease signs

Author
item Day, James
item Zsak, Laszlo

Submitted to: American Association of Avian Pathologists
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/13/2014
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Metagenomics approaches have identified novel viruses in the poultry gastrointestinal tract, but these viruses and viral communities and their roles in general gut health have not been fully characterized. This study investigates the colonization of specific pathogen free (SPF) chickens by enteric viruses under field conditions. Sentinel birds were placed into contact with three-week old broiler chicken flocks on farms with histories of enteric disease. Sentinels remained in contact with each flock for five days and were then removed. Pooled intestinal homogenates from contact birds were handled in order to enrich for virus-sized particles from which viral nucleic acid was extracted. Prepared samples representing these pools were sequenced using the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM) platform. Individual metagenomes were deposited and analyzed using the metagenome RAST (MG-RAST) server, and revealed colonization of contact birds by members of the Picornaviridae, Picobirnaviridae, Reoviridae, and Astroviridae that were not present in pre-contact birds. Members of the Reoviridae and Astroviridae have been implicated in poultry enteric disease for years while members of the Picobirnaviridae and Picornaviridae have recently been described in the avian gut. The pre-contact chickens also had an apparent infection with a member of the Caliciviridae—an infection that persisted in contact birds in one of the flocks. This study has revealed the colonization of the poultry gut by numerous novel and known enteric viruses, and the subsequent metagenomic analysis has revealed numerous novel enteric virus nucleic acid sequences associated with enteric disease and poor performance on poultry farms.