Exploring the Genetic Resistance to Gastrointestinal Nematodes Infection in Goat Using RNA-Sequencing

Abstract

Gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) are one of the most economically important parasites of small ruminants and a major animal health concern in many regions of the world. However, the molecular mechanisms of the host response to GIN infections in goat are still little known. In this study, two genetically distinct goat populations, one relatively resistant and the other susceptible to GIN infections, were identified in Yichang goat and then four individuals in each group were chosen to compare mRNA expression profiles using RNA-seq. Field experiment showed lower worm burden, delayed and reduced egg production in the relatively resistant group than the susceptible group. The analysis of RNA-seq showed that 2369 genes, 1407 of which were up-regulated and 962 down-regulated, were significantly (p < 0.001) differentially expressed between these two groups. Functional annotation of the 298 genes more highly expressed in the resistant group yielded a total of 46 significant (p < 0.05) functional annotation clusters including 31 genes (9 in innate immunity, 13 in immunity, and 9 in innate immune response) related to immune biosynthetic process as well as transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) pathways. Our findings provide insights that are immediately relevant for the improvement of host resistance to GIN infections and which will make it possible to know the mechanisms underlying the resistance of goats to GIN infections.

Genetic characterization of indigenous goat breeds in Romania and Hungary with a special focus on genetic resistance to mastitis and gastrointestinal parasitism based on 40 SNPs

“…Bhuiyan et al . [ 22 ] showed that CLEC4E was a down-regulated gene involved in immune response system in susceptible goats to nematodes infection. In others studies on goats, CLEC4E was up-regulated when was investigated in the in vivo transcriptional response of mammary epithelial cells at the early stages of infection with Staphylococcus aureus [ 21 ].…”

“…A total of 52 SNPs belonging to 19 genes ( S2 Table ) have been selected to be used in Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR assay based on studies [ 11 , 19 – 22 ] involving markers for genetic resistance to gastrointestinal infection and genes associated with resistance to mammary gland infection. SNPs data were collected from the caprine Single Nucleotide Database (dbSNP) of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).…”

Genomic variants from RNA-seq for goats resistant or susceptible to gastrointestinal nematode infection

“…The MAPK signalling pathway was in the top significant pathways identified from genes containing genomic variants of the resistant genotype. This pathway was previously reported to be regulated by differently expressed genes of resistant and susceptible Yichang White goats and indicated to play significant role in the resistance of this goat breed to GIN infection [27].…”

“…One major problem for goats and sheep genomic analysis was that the functional analysis was not available with goats or sheep as reference species due to the lack of data for C. hircus and Ovis aries in functional analysis programs. Therefore, almost all previous publications in goats and sheep genomic filled used human [27][28][29] or bovine [30] genome as reference for functional analysis.…”

Signatures of selection for resistance to Haemonchus contortus in sheep and goats

“…contortus or other GNI. The candidate gene panel was selected for targeted sequencing based on results from previous studies in sheep (55,(72)(73)(74)(75)(76) and goats (77). In addition, genes related to the immune response against H. contortus and other GNI were considered as candidates for targeted sequencing (Supplementary Table 5).…”