Expression analysis of cytosolic DNA-sensing pathway genes in the intestinal mucosal layer of necrotic enteritis-induced chicken

• Nectotic enteritis was induced in two genetically disparate chicken lines.
• RNA-sequencing was performed in the intestinal mucosa of NE-induced chickens.
• Differentially expressed genes status in cytosolic DNA-sensing pathway was analyzed.
• Cytosolic DNA-sensing pathway genes were examined by real time qPCR.
• Results indicate that necrotic enteritis affects foreign DNA sensing mechanisms.

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is a serious problem to the poultry farms, which report NE outbreaks more than once per year, as a result of the inappropriate use of antibiotics in the feed. The NE affected bird die rapidly as a result of various pathophysiological complications in the intestine and immune system. Also, several studies have reported that the genes exclusively related to intestine and immune functions are significantly altered in response to NE. In this study, NE was induced in two genetically disparate chicken lines that are resistant (line 6.3) and sensitive (line 7.2) to avian leukosis and Marek's disease. The intestinal mucosal layer was collected from NE-induced and control chickens, and subjected to RNA-sequencing analysis. The involvement of differentially expressed genes in the intestinal mucosal layer of line 6.3 and 7.2 with the immune system-related pathways was investigated. Among the identified immune system-related pathways, a candidate pathway known as chicken cytosolic DNA-sensing pathway (CDS pathway) was selected for further investigation. RNA-sequencing and pathway analysis identified a total of 21 genes that were involved in CDS pathway and differentially expressed in the intestinal mucosal layer of lines 6.3 and 7.2. The expression of CDS pathway genes was further confirmed by real-time qPCR. In the results, a majority of the CDS pathway genes were significantly altered in the NE-induced intestinal mucosal layer from lines 6.3 and 7.2. In conclusion, our study indicate that NE seriously affects several genes involved in innate immune defense and foreign DNA sensing mechanisms in the chicken intestinal mucosal layer. Identifying the immune genes affected by NE could be an important evidence for the protective immune response to NE-causative pathogens.