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Title: HIGH-THROUGHPUT GENE EXPRESSION PROFILING TO STUDY HOST-PARASITE INTERACTIONS IN AVIAN COCCIDIOSIS

Author
item Lillehoj, Hyun
item MIN, W - 1265-40-00
item ZHU, J - 1265-40-00
item ASHWELL, C - USDA, ARS
item VAN TASSELL, CURT - USDA, ARS
item Sonstegard, Tad
item BURNSIDE, J - U DELAWARE, NEWARK
item MATTHEW, B - USDA, ARS

Submitted to: Poultry Science Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Coccidiosis is an intestinal infection caused by intracellular protozoan parasites Eimeria. Understanding the interaction between host and parasites in the intestine is crucial in designing new approaches against this disease. To better characterize host-parasite interactions, high-throughput gene profiling DNA arrays were developed to identify chicken genes with altered expression following Eimeria infection. Over 1,000 expressed sequence tag (EST) genes from an activated T cell library were arrayed on DNA chips and hybridized with mRNAs from normal and E. acervulina infected intestinal cells. Approximately 200 genes showed significant changes. The success of this DNA microarray approach prompted us to construct a normalized cDNA library from intestinal epithelial cells and lymphocytes after infection Eimeria to identify specific chicken genes regulating host protective immunity to coccidiosis. This library contains 1.87 x 107 transformants with an average insert size of 1.56 kb. Presently, over 6,000 clones have been EST sequenced of which 80% contain high quality inserts and 50% are unique based on a BLAST search. DNA microarray analysis of this library will allow better characterization of chicken genes involved in local host-parasite interactions in avian coccidiosis (Supported by Fund for Rural America, Grant No 9704985 and partially by ARS CRIS).