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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #248459
Title: Gene expression profiling of the local cecal response of genetic chicken lines that differ in their susceptibility to Campylobacter jejuni colonization

Author
item LI, XIANYAO - Texas A&M University
item Swaggerty, Christina - Christi
item Kogut, Michael - Mike
item CHIANG, HSIN-I - Texas A&M University
item WANG, YING - Texas A&M University
item Genovese, Kenneth - Ken
item He, Louis
item ZHOU, HUAIJUN - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: PLOS ONE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/5/2010
Publication Date: 7/28/2010
Citation: Li, X., Swaggerty, C.L., Kogut, M.H., Chiang, H., Wang, Y., Genovese, K.J., He, H., Zhou, H. 2010. Gene expression profiling of the local cecal response of genetic chicken lines that differ in their susceptibility to Campylobacter jejuni colonization. PLoS One. 5:e11827.

Interpretive Summary: Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) is one of the most common causes of food-borne illness in the world, and poultry products are one of the main sources of contamination. How chickens respond to a C. jejuni infection is not known. Previously, we showed that two different lines of chickens (line A and B) responded differently to a C. jejuni infection; line A was more resistant and line B was more susceptible to the bug. In the present study, to profile the response to C. jejuni infection in baby chickens, a piece of intestine was removed and analyzed using a microarray. We found that genes associated with metabolic processes and signaling pathways mainly contribute to the different response to C. jejuni infection between lines A and B. The results from this study showed us specific genes that were associated with resistance against C. jejuni infections in chickens. If we can utilize more resistant chickens in the food chain, there will be a reduced risk to the consumer, and the food supply will be safer.

Technical Abstract: Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) is one of the most common causes of human bacterial enteritis worldwide, with poultry products being one of the main sources of contamination. The molecular mechanisms of the local host response to C. jejuni infection in chickens have not been well characterized. Previously, we found a significant difference in the genetic resistance to C. jejuni colonization in the ceca between two genetically distinct broiler lines (Line A is more resistant than line B). In the present study, to profile the local host response to C. jejuni infection in young chickens at the molecular level, cecal tonsils from lines A and B were removed, RNA isolated, and applied to a chicken whole genome based microarray for a pair-comparison between infected (I) and non-infected (N) chickens within each line and between lines A and B. The significantly expressed genes between each pair-comparison were identified and function analysis was performed. Our results demonstrate that metabolism process, insulin, and protein signaling pathways mainly contribute to different response to C. jejuni infection between lines A and B. There were more genes activated to defend against C. jejuni infection in susceptible line B compared to resistant line A. With C. jejuni infection, lymphocyte activation and lymphoid organ development functions are important for line A, while cell differentiation, communication, and signaling pathway are important for line B. Circadian rhythm might play a critical role in host response to C. jejuni infection, especially in resistant line.