Transcriptional analysis of murine CXCR3+ vs. CXCR3- peritoneal cavity B cells 8 days following infection with Ehrlichia muris.

We performed bulk RNA sequencing on murine CXCR3+ and CXCR3-negative live singlet IgM+ IgD-neg CD19+ CD138-neg (B1 B cell-like) peritoneal cavity B cells to compare the transcriptomes of the two populations following i.p. infection with the intracellular bacterium Ehrlichia muris. Total RNA was extracted and sequenced, followed by pseudoalignment, quality assessment, normalization, and analysis of differential gene expression. The CXCR3+ B1 B cell-like population was highly enriched for genes involved in proliferation, metabolism, and cell division, whereas the CXCR3- B1 B cell-like population transcriptionally resembled canonical B1 B cells and did not appear to be proliferative. These results suggest local proliferation of CXCR3+ B cells occurs in the peritoneal cavity during acute infection with an intracellular bacterium. Comparison of bulk gene expression between CXCR3+ and CXCR3-negative live singlet IgM+ IgD-neg CD19+ CD138-neg peritoneal cavity B cells from 3 biological replicates