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Heat stress reduces sexual development and affects pathogenesis of Eimeria maxima in meat-type chickens.

ABSTRACT: Coccidiosis, caused by Eimeria spp. presents a self-limiting intestinal infection of poultry. Intestinal replication of the parasite causes severe morphological alterations to the host gastrointestinal tract, marked, among others, by the disruption of the intestinal barrier. We have previously reported a significant reduction in merozoite replication and oocyst shedding in E. tenella in vitro and in vivo. The objective of this study was to investigate the pathogenesis of E. maxima infection in broiler chickens under heat stress (HS) and mRNA expression of host cytokines that might affect the curtailed development of the parasite. We herein demonstrate that there is a significant detrimental effect of HS on the pathogenesis of E. maxima infection in broilers. There was a restricted replication of the parasite in HS chickens evidenced by significantly reduced oocyst shedding and disruption of the intestinal blood barrier. Gene expression of parasite genes demonstrated curtailed sexual reproduction of E. maxima in HS chickens. There was downregulation of Eimeria spp. genes related to gamete fusion, oocyst shedding, mitosis and spermiogenesis. Host gene expression indicates alterations in the cytokine expression that could be related to reduced parasite development in vivo.

SUBMITTER: Schneiders GH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7329875 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Heat stress reduces sexual development and affects pathogenesis of Eimeria maxima in meat-type chickens.

Schneiders Gustavo H GH Foutz James C JC Milfort Marie C MC Ghareeb Ahmed F A AFA Fuller Alberta L AL Rekaya Romdhane R Williams Susan M SM Aggrey Samuel E SE

Scientific reports 20200701 1

Coccidiosis, caused by Eimeria spp. presents a self-limiting intestinal infection of poultry. Intestinal replication of the parasite causes severe morphological alterations to the host gastrointestinal tract, marked, among others, by the disruption of the intestinal barrier. We have previously reported a significant reduction in merozoite replication and oocyst shedding in E. tenella in vitro and in vivo. The objective of this study was to investigate the pathogenesis of E. maxima infection in b ...[more]

PMID: 32612102

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Project description:Eimeria (E.) maxima parasite infects the midgut disrupting the jejunal and ileal mucosal lining causing high morbidity and mortality in chickens. Heat stress (HS) is a seasonal stressor that affects biological functions leading to poor performance. Our objective was to elucidate how HS, E. maxima infection, and their combination affect the ileum transcriptome. Two-hundred and forty 2-week-old males Ross708 chickens were randomly allocated into four treatment groups: thermoneutral control (TNc), thermoneutral infected (TNi), heat stress control (HSc), and heat stress infected (HSi), with 6 replicates each of 10 birds. Infected groups received 200x103 sporulated E. maxima oocysts/bird, and heat treatment groups were raised at 35oC. At 6-day post-treatment, five chickens per group were randomly sampled, and ileum tissues were collected for RNA extraction and sequencing using NGS Illumina sequencing platforms. A total of 413, 3377, 1908, and 2304 DEGs were identified when applying the comparisons: TNc vs HSc, TNc vs TNi, HSi vs HSc, and TNi vs HSi, respectively, at cutoff ≥1.2-fold change (FDR: q<0.05). HSc vs TNc showed upregulation of lipid metabolic pathways and degradation and metabolism of multiple amino acids, and downregulation of most immune-related and protein synthesis pathways. TNc vs TNi displayed upregulation of most of the immune-associated pathways and eukaryotic mRNA maturation pathways, and downregulation of fatty acid metabolism and multiple amino acid metabolism pathways including tryptophan. Comparing HSi versus HSc and TNi revealed that combining the two stressors restored some normal cellular functions, e.g., oxidative phosphorylation and protein synthesis, and reduced the intensity of immune response associated with E. maxima infection. Tryptophan metabolism was upregulated, including genes that contribute to catabolizing tryptophan through serotonin and indole pathways; which might result in reducing the cytoplasmic pool of nutrients and calcium available for the parasite to scavenge and consequently might affect the parasite’s reproductive ability.

Dataset Information

Heat stress reduces sexual development and affects pathogenesis of Eimeria maxima in meat-type chickens.

Publications

Heat stress reduces sexual development and affects pathogenesis of Eimeria maxima in meat-type chickens.

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