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Rajavel A, Klees S, Hui Y, Schmitt AO, Gültas M. Deciphering the Molecular Mechanism Underlying African Animal Trypanosomiasis by Means of the 1000 Bull Genomes Project Genomic Dataset. BIOLOGY 2022; 11:biology11050742. [PMID: 35625470 PMCID: PMC9138820 DOI: 10.3390/biology11050742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary Climate change is increasing the risk of spreading vector-borne diseases such as African Animal Trypanosomiasis (AAT), which is causing major economic losses, especially in sub-Saharan African countries. Mainly considering this disease, we have investigated transcriptomic and genomic data from two cattle breeds, namely Boran and N‘Dama, where the former is known for its susceptibility and the latter one for its tolerance to the AAT. Despite the rich literature on this disease, there is still a need to investigate underlying genetic mechanisms to decipher the complex interplay of regulatory SNPs (rSNPs), their corresponding gene expression profiles and the downstream effectors associated with the AAT disease. The findings of this study complement our previous results, which mainly involve the upstream events, including transcription factors (TFs) and their co-operations as well as master regulators. Moreover, our investigation of significant rSNPs and effectors found in the liver, spleen and lymph node tissues of both cattle breeds could enhance the understanding of distinct mechanisms leading to either resistance or susceptibility of cattle breeds. Abstract African Animal Trypanosomiasis (AAT) is a neglected tropical disease and spreads by the vector tsetse fly, which carries the infectious Trypanosoma sp. in their saliva. Particularly, this parasitic disease affects the health of livestock, thereby imposing economic constraints on farmers, costing billions of dollars every year, especially in sub-Saharan African countries. Mainly considering the AAT disease as a multistage progression process, we previously performed upstream analysis to identify transcription factors (TFs), their co-operations, over-represented pathways and master regulators. However, downstream analysis, including effectors, corresponding gene expression profiles and their association with the regulatory SNPs (rSNPs), has not yet been established. Therefore, in this study, we aim to investigate the complex interplay of rSNPs, corresponding gene expression and downstream effectors with regard to the AAT disease progression based on two cattle breeds: trypanosusceptible Boran and trypanotolerant N’Dama. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into the effectors involved in the regulation of several signal transduction pathways, thereby differentiating the molecular mechanism with regard to the immune responses of the cattle breeds. The effectors and their associated genes (especially MAPKAPK5, CSK, DOK2, RAC1 and DNMT1) could be promising drug candidates as they orchestrate various downstream regulatory cascades in both cattle breeds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abirami Rajavel
- Breeding Informatics Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Georg-August University, Margarethe von Wrangell-Weg 7, 37075 Göttingen, Germany; (S.K.); (Y.H.); (A.O.S.)
- Center for Integrated Breeding Research (CiBreed), Georg-August University, Carl-Sprengel-Weg 1, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
- Correspondence: (A.R.); (M.G.)
| | - Selina Klees
- Breeding Informatics Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Georg-August University, Margarethe von Wrangell-Weg 7, 37075 Göttingen, Germany; (S.K.); (Y.H.); (A.O.S.)
- Center for Integrated Breeding Research (CiBreed), Georg-August University, Carl-Sprengel-Weg 1, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Yuehan Hui
- Breeding Informatics Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Georg-August University, Margarethe von Wrangell-Weg 7, 37075 Göttingen, Germany; (S.K.); (Y.H.); (A.O.S.)
| | - Armin Otto Schmitt
- Breeding Informatics Group, Department of Animal Sciences, Georg-August University, Margarethe von Wrangell-Weg 7, 37075 Göttingen, Germany; (S.K.); (Y.H.); (A.O.S.)
- Center for Integrated Breeding Research (CiBreed), Georg-August University, Carl-Sprengel-Weg 1, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Mehmet Gültas
- Center for Integrated Breeding Research (CiBreed), Georg-August University, Carl-Sprengel-Weg 1, 37075 Göttingen, Germany
- Faculty of Agriculture, South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, Lübecker Ring 2, 59494 Soest, Germany
- Correspondence: (A.R.); (M.G.)
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Comparative Investigation of Gene Regulatory Processes Underlying Avian Influenza Viruses in Chicken and Duck. BIOLOGY 2022; 11:biology11020219. [PMID: 35205087 PMCID: PMC8868632 DOI: 10.3390/biology11020219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2021] [Revised: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Simple Summary Avian influenza poses a great risk to gallinaceous poultry, while mallard ducks can withstand most virus strains. To date, the mechanisms underlying the susceptibility of chicken and the effective immune response of duck have not been completely understood. In this study, our aim is to investigate the transcriptional gene regulation governing the expression of important avian-influenza-induced genes and to reveal the master regulators stimulating an effective immune response after virus infection in ducks while dysfunctioning in chicken. Abstract The avian influenza virus (AIV) mainly affects birds and not only causes animals’ deaths, but also poses a great risk of zoonotically infecting humans. While ducks and wild waterfowl are seen as a natural reservoir for AIVs and can withstand most virus strains, chicken mostly succumb to infection with high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). To date, the mechanisms underlying the susceptibility of chicken and the effective immune response of duck have not been completely unraveled. In this study, we investigate the transcriptional gene regulation underlying disease progression in chicken and duck after AIV infection. For this purpose, we use a publicly available RNA-sequencing dataset from chicken and ducks infected with low-pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) H5N2 and HPAI H5N1 (lung and ileum tissues, 1 and 3 days post-infection). Unlike previous studies, we performed a promoter analysis based on orthologous genes to detect important transcription factors (TFs) and their cooperation, based on which we apply a systems biology approach to identify common and species-specific master regulators. We found master regulators such as EGR1, FOS, and SP1, specifically for chicken and ETS1 and SMAD3/4, specifically for duck, which could be responsible for the duck’s effective and the chicken’s ineffective immune response.
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