Table_4_Global Transcriptome Profiling of Multiple Porcine Organs Reveals Toxoplasma gondii-Induced Transcriptional Landscapes.XLSX

We characterized the porcine tissue transcriptional landscapes that follow Toxoplasma gondii infection. RNAs were isolated from liver, spleen, cerebral cortex, lung, and mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) of T. gondii-infected and uninfected (control) pigs at days 6 and 18 postinfection, and were analyzed using next-generation sequencing (RNA-seq). T. gondii altered the expression of 178, 476, 199, 201, and 362 transcripts at 6 dpi and 217, 223, 347, 119, and 161 at 18 dpi in the infected brain, liver, lung, MLNs and spleen, respectively. The differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) were grouped into five expression patterns and 10 sub-clusters. Gene Ontology enrichment and pathway analysis revealed that immune-related genes dominated the overall transcriptomic signature and that metabolic processes, such as steroid biosynthesis, and metabolism of lipid and carboxylic acid, were downregulated in infected tissues. Co-expression network analysis identified transcriptional modules associated with host immune response to infection. These findings not only show how T. gondii infection alters porcine transcriptome in a tissue-specific manner, but also offer a gateway for testing new hypotheses regarding human response to T. gondii infection.

本研究解析了刚地弓形虫（Toxoplasma gondii）感染后猪组织的转录组全景图谱。研究分别于感染后第6天和第18天，从刚地弓形虫感染组与未感染对照组猪的肝脏、脾脏、大脑皮层、肺脏及肠系膜淋巴结（mesenteric lymph nodes, MLNs）中分离总RNA，采用下一代测序技术（RNA-seq）进行转录组测序分析。在感染后第6天，刚地弓形虫在受感染的大脑、肝脏、肺脏、肠系膜淋巴结及脾脏中分别调控了178、476、199、201和362个转录本的表达；而在感染后第18天，上述组织中分别有217、223、347、119和161个转录本的表达发生显著改变。本研究将上述差异表达转录本（differentially expressed transcripts, DETs）划分为5种表达模式及10个亚簇。基因本体（Gene Ontology, GO）富集分析与通路分析结果显示，免疫相关基因在整体转录组特征中占据主导地位，而感染组织内的类固醇生物合成、脂质代谢及羧酸代谢等代谢过程呈现显著下调趋势。共表达网络分析鉴定出了与宿主抗感染免疫应答相关的转录调控模块。本研究结果不仅揭示了刚地弓形虫感染以组织特异性方式调控猪转录组的分子特征，同时也为验证人类针对刚地弓形虫感染的免疫应答相关新假说提供了重要的研究切入点。