“…One of these, DDX60 , belongs to the family of DEAD/H-box RNA helicases which participate in anti-viral innate immunity, either by acting as viral nucleic acid sensors or by regulating downstream signaling events ( Fullam and Schröder, 2013 ). In line with a role in innate immune activation, DDX60 was found to be up-regulated in tonsils and intestine of chickens following infection with avian influenza virus H9N2 ( Alqazlan et al, 2021 ), and in the spleen of chickens infected with the commonly observed chicken astrovirus CAstV ( Sajewicz-Krukowska et al, 2021 ). The other gene, ETNPPL , being highly expressed in liver and brain encodes the enzyme ethanolamine phosphate phospholyase, which specifically degrades phosphoethanolamine, which itself is necessary to generate phosphatidylethanolamine via the so-called Kennedy pathway ( Pavlovic and Bakovic, 2013 ).…”