Transcriptome Response of Leukocytes from Chickens Infected with Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli Identifies Pathways Associated with Resistance

Gene expression profiling of peripheral blood leukocytes in male broiler chickens exposed to APEC O1. Comparisons were made between Day 1 and Day 5 of all treatment groups, between differences in pathology and effect of vaccine on spleen gene expression. The goal was to determine expression differences that could convey genetic resistance to APEC O1. Chickens were either challenged or non-challenged with APEC, vaccinated or non-vaccinated, with blood collected 1 or 5 days post challenge. The non-vaccinated, challenged group was further subdivided into mild and severe pathologay based on internal lesion scores. This created 10 groups, done in 4 replicates. The non-vaccinated, non-challenged, day 1 group was used as the reference for all other samples. Peripheral blood leukocytes were isolated from whole blood for analysis.

禽致病性大肠杆菌O1型（APEC O1）暴露的雄性肉鸡外周血白细胞（peripheral blood leukocytes）的基因表达谱分析。本研究对所有处理组的第1天与第5天样本开展对比，并针对病理差异与疫苗对脾脏基因表达的影响进行分析。本研究的目标为筛选可体现禽致病性大肠杆菌O1型（APEC O1）遗传抗性的基因表达差异。试验鸡分为APEC O1攻毒组与非攻毒组，同时设置疫苗免疫组与非免疫组，并于攻毒后1天或5天采集血液样本。未免疫且攻毒的组别根据体内病变评分进一步划分为轻度与重度病理损伤亚组。最终共得到10个实验组，每组设置4次生物学重复。以未免疫、非攻毒的第1天样本组作为其余所有样本的参照组。从全血中分离外周血白细胞用于后续分析。