Comparative transcriptomic analysis of chicken immune organs affected by Marek’s disease virus infection at latency phases

Over the past decades, MDV has dramatically evolved towards more virulent strains and remains a persistent threat to the world’s poultry industry. We performed genome-wide gene expression analysis in the spleen, thymus, and bursa tissues from MD-resistant line and susceptible line to explore the mec...

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Main Authors: Yi Ding, John Dunn, Huanmin Zhang, Keji Zhao, Jiuzhou Song
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-04-01
Series:Frontiers in Physiology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2025.1520826/full
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author Yi Ding
John Dunn
Huanmin Zhang
Keji Zhao
Jiuzhou Song
author_facet Yi Ding
John Dunn
Huanmin Zhang
Keji Zhao
Jiuzhou Song
author_sort Yi Ding
collection DOAJ
description Over the past decades, MDV has dramatically evolved towards more virulent strains and remains a persistent threat to the world’s poultry industry. We performed genome-wide gene expression analysis in the spleen, thymus, and bursa tissues from MD-resistant line and susceptible line to explore the mechanism of MD resistance and susceptibility. We identified genes and pathways associated with the transcriptional response to MDV infection using the robust RNA sequencing approach. The transcriptome analysis revealed a tissue-specific expression pattern among immune organs when confronting MDV. At pathway and network levels, MDV infections influenced cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and cellular development in resistant and susceptible chicken lines. Meanwhile, we also observed different genetic responses between the two chicken lines: some pathways like herpes simplex infection and influenza A were found in MD resistant line spleen tissues, whereas metabolic-related pathways and DNA replication could only be observed in MD susceptible line chickens. In summary, our research renders new perceptions of the MD progression mechanism and beckons further gene function studies into MD resistance.
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spelling doaj-art-e4c3c2d0acd94a1a88e5078dc554dc9b2025-08-20T03:09:45ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Physiology1664-042X2025-04-011610.3389/fphys.2025.15208261520826Comparative transcriptomic analysis of chicken immune organs affected by Marek’s disease virus infection at latency phasesYi Ding0John Dunn1Huanmin Zhang2Keji Zhao3Jiuzhou Song4Allen Institute for Brian Science, Seattle, WA, United StatesU.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, Athens, GA, United StatesU.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, Athens, GA, United StatesLaboratory of Epigenome Biology, Systems Biology Center, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United StatesDepartment of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, United StatesOver the past decades, MDV has dramatically evolved towards more virulent strains and remains a persistent threat to the world’s poultry industry. We performed genome-wide gene expression analysis in the spleen, thymus, and bursa tissues from MD-resistant line and susceptible line to explore the mechanism of MD resistance and susceptibility. We identified genes and pathways associated with the transcriptional response to MDV infection using the robust RNA sequencing approach. The transcriptome analysis revealed a tissue-specific expression pattern among immune organs when confronting MDV. At pathway and network levels, MDV infections influenced cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction and cellular development in resistant and susceptible chicken lines. Meanwhile, we also observed different genetic responses between the two chicken lines: some pathways like herpes simplex infection and influenza A were found in MD resistant line spleen tissues, whereas metabolic-related pathways and DNA replication could only be observed in MD susceptible line chickens. In summary, our research renders new perceptions of the MD progression mechanism and beckons further gene function studies into MD resistance.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2025.1520826/fullMarek’s diseaseMarek’s disease viruspoultry healthimmune organsgene exression
spellingShingle Yi Ding
John Dunn
Huanmin Zhang
Keji Zhao
Jiuzhou Song
Comparative transcriptomic analysis of chicken immune organs affected by Marek’s disease virus infection at latency phases
Frontiers in Physiology
Marek’s disease
Marek’s disease virus
poultry health
immune organs
gene exression
title Comparative transcriptomic analysis of chicken immune organs affected by Marek’s disease virus infection at latency phases
title_full Comparative transcriptomic analysis of chicken immune organs affected by Marek’s disease virus infection at latency phases
title_fullStr Comparative transcriptomic analysis of chicken immune organs affected by Marek’s disease virus infection at latency phases
title_full_unstemmed Comparative transcriptomic analysis of chicken immune organs affected by Marek’s disease virus infection at latency phases
title_short Comparative transcriptomic analysis of chicken immune organs affected by Marek’s disease virus infection at latency phases
title_sort comparative transcriptomic analysis of chicken immune organs affected by marek s disease virus infection at latency phases
topic Marek’s disease
Marek’s disease virus
poultry health
immune organs
gene exression
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2025.1520826/full
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