Research Project: Evaluation of Host Pathogen Interactions in Avian Bacterial Respiratory Diseases

Location: Poultry Research

Project Number: 6064-13000-014-019-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jul 1, 2026
End Date: Jun 30, 2028

Objective:
1. Evaluate changes in respiratory microbiome composition in response to intratracheal APEC and/or MG infection. 2. Characterize the transcriptomic changes in the respiratory tract of birds infected with bacterial pathogens.

Approach:
1. Commercial poultry will be infected with Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC), Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), or the combination. Following infection, respiratory tissue samples will be obtained for DNA isolation, next generation sequencing, and 16S bioinformatic analysis to determine the effect of infection on the respiratory microbiome. 2. Host RNA will be isolated from respiratory tissues from birds infected with APEC, MG, or the combination. Next generation sequencing and transcriptomic bioinformatic analysis will be used to determine the effect of infection models on host gene expression for identification of unique host responses.