Genetic resilience in chickens against bacterial, viral and protozoal pathogens

Haji Gul; Gul Habib; Ibrar Muhammad Khan; Sajid Ur Rahman; Nazir Muhammad Khan; Hongcheng Wang; Najeeb Ullah Khan; Yong Liu

doi:10.3389/fvets.2022.1032983

Genetic resilience in chickens against bacterial, viral and protozoal pathogens

Front Vet Sci. 2022 Nov 10:9:1032983. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.1032983. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Haji Gul^{1

2}, Gul Habib³, Ibrar Muhammad Khan¹, Sajid Ur Rahman^{4

5}, Nazir Muhammad Khan⁶, Hongcheng Wang¹, Najeeb Ullah Khan⁷, Yong Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Embryo Development and Reproduction Regulation, Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Environmental Hormone and Reproduction, School of Biological and Food Engineering, Fuyang Normal University, Fuyang, China.
² College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
³ Department of Microbiology, Abbottabad University of Science and Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Food Science and Engineering, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Animal Parasitology of Ministry of Agriculture, Laboratory of Quality and Safety Risk Assessment for Animal Products on Biohazards (Shanghai) of Ministry of Agriculture, Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, China.
⁶ Department of Zoology, University of Science and Technology, Bannu, Pakistan.
⁷ Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Pakistan.

Abstract

The genome contributes to the uniqueness of an individual breed, and enables distinctive characteristics to be passed from one generation to the next. The allelic heterogeneity of a certain breed results in a different response to a pathogen with different genomic expression. Disease resistance in chicken is a polygenic trait that involves different genes that confer resistance against pathogens. Such resistance also involves major histocompatibility (MHC) molecules, immunoglobulins, cytokines, interleukins, T and B cells, and CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes, which are involved in host protection. The MHC is associated with antigen presentation, antibody production, and cytokine stimulation, which highlight its role in disease resistance. The natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 1 (Nramp-1), interferon (IFN), myxovirus-resistance gene, myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88), receptor-interacting serine/threonine kinase 2 (RIP2), and heterophile cells are involved in disease resistance and susceptibility of chicken. Studies related to disease resistance genetics, epigenetics, and quantitative trait loci would enable the identification of resistance markers and the development of disease resistance breeds. Microbial infections are responsible for significant outbreaks and have blighted the poultry industry. Breeding disease-resistant chicken strains may be helpful in tackling pathogens and increasing the current understanding on host genetics in the fight against communicable diseases. Advanced technologies, such as the CRISPR/Cas9 system, whole genome sequencing, RNA sequencing, and high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, aid the development of resistant breeds, which would significantly decrease the use of antibiotics and vaccination in poultry. In this review, we aimed to reveal the recent genetic basis of infection and genomic modification that increase resistance against different pathogens in chickens.

Keywords: SNPs; chicken MHC; genetics; infectious diseases; non-coding RNAs; novel technology; pathogens.

Publication types

Review