15 Differentially Expressed Long Non-coding RNA Associated with Gastrointestinal Nematode Infection in Divergent Immune Response Sheep

Abstract

Gastrointestinal nematode infection is one of the major production problems for sheep producers worldwide due its high incidence, morbidity, and mortality in affected flocks. The study of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in liver tissue of high (HIR) and low immune responder (LIR) sheep to GINs using RNA-Sequencing technology may provide a better understanding of the gene regulation mechanism associated with the host response to the infection. The aim of this study was to identify differentially expressed (DE) lncRNA between HIR and LIR natural infested sheep and control group. Liver tissue samples from the 13 divergent animals (out of a population of 211) based on their immunoglobulin G levels after vaccination using Hen Egg White (HEW) Lysozyme, and immature abomasum worm counts [HIR (> 4000) (n = 5), LIR (< 1500) (n=5) and control (no parasite challenge) (n=4) groups] were used to perform transcriptomic analysis using RNA-Sequencing. The “Large Gap read mapping “and “Transcript Discovery” tools from CLC Genomics Workbench 20.0.4 (CLC Bio, Aarhus, Denmark), were used to map reads to a reference genome (Oar_rambouillet_v1.0) and transcript discovery, respectively. The FEELnc software was used to identify, from predicted transcript model, potential lncRNAs and classify those transcripts into intro putative lncRNAs and protein coding RNAs. As preliminary results, 8 and 48 DE lncRNAs for HIR and LIR compared to control group were identified, respectively using an adjusted p-value False Discovery Rate (FDR) < 0.05 and Fold change (FC) abs > 2. Functional analyses using the list of DE lncRNAs identified metabolic pathways related to immune function. In depth analysis will help to better understand the physiological mechanisms of resilience of high immune sheep.