Dixon Samantha, Karrow Niel A, Borkowski Emma, Suarez-Vega Aroa, Menzies Paula I, Kennedy Delma, Peregrine Andrew S, Mallard Bonnie A, Cánovas Ángela
Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock, Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Front Genet. 2023 Feb 17;14:1111426. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2023.1111426. eCollection 2023.
Gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) infections are considered the most important disease of grazing sheep and due to increasing anthelmintic resistance, chemical control alone is inadequate. Resistance to Gastrointestinal nematode infection is a heritable trait, and through natural selection many sheep breeds have higher resistance. Studying the transcriptome from GINexposed and GIN-unexposed sheep using RNA-Sequencing technology can provide measurements of transcript levels associated with the host response to Gastrointestinal nematode infection, and these transcripts may harbor genetic markers that can be used in selective breeding programs to enhance disease resistance. The objective of this study was to compare liver transcriptomes of sheep naturally exposed to Gastrointestinal nematode s, with either high or low parasite burdens, to GIN-unexposed control sheep in order to identify key regulator genes and biological processes associated with Gastrointestinal nematode infection. Differential gene expression analysis revealed no significant differentially expressed genes (DEG) between sheep with a high or low parasite burden (-value ≤0.01; False Discovery Rate (FDR) ≤ 0.05; and Fold-Change (FC) of > ±2). However, when compared to the control group, low parasite burden sheep showed 146 differentially expressed genes (64 upregulated and 82 downregulated in the low parasite burden group relative to the control), and high parasite burden sheep showed 159 differentially expressed genes (57 upregulated and 102 downregulated in the low parasite burden group relative to the control) (-value ≤0.01; FDR ≤0.05; and FC of > ±2). Among these two lists of significant differentially expressed genes, 86 differentially expressed genes (34 upregulated, 52 downregulated in the parasited group relative to the control) were found in common between the two parasite burden groups compared to the control (GIN-unexposed sheep). Functional analysis of these significant 86 differentially expressed genes found upregulated genes involved in immune response and downregulated genes involved in lipid metabolism. Results of this study offer insight into the liver transcriptome during natural Gastrointestinal nematode exposure that helps provide a better understanding of the key regulator genes involved in Gastrointestinal nematode infection in sheep.
胃肠道线虫（GIN）感染被认为是放牧绵羊最重要的疾病，由于抗驱虫药的耐药性不断增加，仅靠化学控制是不够的。对胃肠道线虫感染的抗性是一种可遗传的性状，通过自然选择，许多绵羊品种具有更高的抗性。使用RNA测序技术研究暴露于GIN和未暴露于GIN的绵羊的转录组，可以提供与宿主对胃肠道线虫感染反应相关的转录水平测量，这些转录本可能含有可用于选择性育种计划以增强抗病性的遗传标记。本研究的目的是比较自然暴露于胃肠道线虫、寄生虫负荷高或低的绵羊与未暴露于GIN的对照绵羊的肝脏转录组，以确定与胃肠道线虫感染相关的关键调节基因和生物学过程。差异基因表达分析显示，寄生虫负荷高或低的绵羊之间没有显著差异表达基因（P值≤0.01；错误发现率（FDR）≤0.05；倍数变化（FC）>±2）。然而，与对照组相比，低寄生虫负荷绵羊显示出146个差异表达基因（相对于对照组，低寄生虫负荷组中有64个上调和82个下调），高寄生虫负荷绵羊显示出159个差异表达基因（相对于对照组，低寄生虫负荷组中有57个上调和102个下调）（P值≤0.01；FDR≤0.05；FC>±2）。在这两组显著差异表达基因中，与对照组（未暴露于GIN的绵羊）相比，两个寄生虫负荷组之间共有86个差异表达基因（寄生虫组相对于对照组有34个上调，52个下调）。对这86个显著差异表达基因的功能分析发现，上调基因参与免疫反应，下调基因参与脂质代谢。本研究结果有助于深入了解自然暴露于胃肠道线虫期间的肝脏转录组，从而更好地理解绵羊胃肠道线虫感染中涉及的关键调节基因。
