RNA Sequencing Analysis of Chicken Cecum Tissues Following Eimeria tenella Infection in Vivo

Abstract

Eimeria tenella (E. tenella) is one of the most frequent and pathogenic species of protozoan parasites of the genus Eimeria that exclusively occupies the cecum, exerting a high economic impact on the poultry industry. To investigate differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the cecal tissue of Jinghai yellow chickens infected with E. tenella, the molecular response process, and the immune response mechanism during coccidial infection, RNA-seq was used to analyze the cecal tissues of an E. tenella infection group (JS) and an uninfected group (JC) on the seventh day post-infection. The DEGs were screened by functional and pathway enrichment analyses. The results indicated that there were 5477 DEGs (p-value < 0.05) between the JS and the JC groups, of which 2942 were upregulated, and 2535 were downregulated. GO analysis indicated that the top 30 significantly enriched GO terms mainly involved signal transduction, angiogenesis, inflammatory response, and blood vessel development. KEGG analysis revealed that the top significantly enriched signaling pathways included focal adhesion, extracellular matrix–receptor interaction, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor. The key DEGs in these pathways included ANGPTL4, ACSL5, VEGFC, MAPK10, and CD44. These genes play an important role in the infection of E. tenella. This study further enhances our understanding of the molecular mechanism of E. tenella infection in chickens.

Research Note: Correlation analysis of interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 gene expression in chicken spleen and cecal tissues after Eimeria tenella infection in vivo

“…A total of 80 (40♂, 40♀) 1-day-old healthy and physiologically similar Jinghai yellow chickens were selected from the Jinghai Yellow Chicken Resource Farm, Haimen, Jiangsu Province, China. All the chicks were randomly divided into the infected and uninfected groups and were kept in single cages free of coccidiosis by flame disinfection with a gasoline torch and fed antibiotic-free feed and water for up to 30 D ( Wang et al., 2019 ). Each chicken in the infected group was orally infected with 2.5 × 10 4 E. tenella sporulated oocysts.…”

“…It is estimated that the annual global economic loss caused by coccidiosis exceeds $3 billion ( Sharman et al., 2010 , Blake and Tomley, 2014 ), at least 70% of which is due to a decrease in production performance caused by subclinical symptoms of coccidiosis, including individual growth retardation and a reduction in the feed conversion ratio, and 24% of which is due to increased expenses for drug prevention and treatment ( Li et al., 2005 ). In addition, the weak effects of anticoccidials against different strains of pathogens and the high cost of vaccine production are still concerns in the global poultry industry ( Wang et al., 2019 ). Therefore, research on selecting birds with natural resistance to chicken coccidia and other pathogens is important.…”

Association Analysis of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the 5′ Regulatory Region of the IL-6 Gene with Eimeria tenella Resistance in Jinghai Yellow Chickens

“…So far, coccidiostats, live vaccines and strict hygiene control are the main measures to prevent coccidiosis in poultry production [5]. However, problems such as drug residues in food-producing animals, coccidiosis resistance, and vaccine safety still cannot be solved [6]. Therefore, studying the genes and SNPs associated with coccidia at the molecular level and breeding new strains resistant to coccidiosis are effective ways to solve this problem.…”

Study of the Relationship between Polymorphisms in the IL-8 Gene Promoter Region and Coccidiosis Resistance Index in Jinghai Yellow Chickens

“…Chickens are susceptible to Eimeria, with Eimeria tenella, which is parasitic in the cecum, being one of the most pathogenic species. Pathological manifestations include intestinal mucosal injury, cecal swelling, bleeding, and discharge of bloody stools [3,4]. So far, control by drugs and live vaccines are the two major coccidiosis control strategies [5,6].…”