RNA-seq data for Marek's disease in chicken

Marek’s disease (MD) is a T cell lymphoma disease of poultry induced by Marek’s disease virus (MDV), a highly oncogenic alphaherpesvirus. To identify high-confidence candidate genes of MD genetic resistance, high throughput sequencing (RNA-seq) was used to obtain transcriptomic data in CD4+ T cells isolated from MDV infected and non-infected groups of two reciprocal crosses individuals mating by two highly inbred chicken lines (63 MD-resistant and 72 MD-susceptible). Our approach underlines the importance of comprehensive functional studies to gain valuable biological insight into the genetic factors behind MD and other complex traits, and our study also provides additional deep insights into the mechanisms of MD and disease resistance breeding in poultry.