title: Possible mechanisms of host resistance to Haemonchus contortus infection in sheep breeds native to the Canary Islands.
abstract: Haemonchus contortus appears to be the most economically important helminth parasite for small ruminant production in many regions of the world. The two sheep breeds native to the Canary Islands display distinctly different resistant phenotypes under both natural and experimental infections. Canaria Hair Breed (CHB) tends to have significantly lower worm burden and delayed and reduced egg production than the susceptible Canaria Sheep (CS). To understand molecular mechanisms underlying host resistance, we compared the abomasal mucosal transcriptome of the two breeds in response to Haemonchus infection using RNAseq technology. The transcript abundance of 711 and 50 genes were significantly impacted by infection in CHB and CS, respectively (false discovery rate <0.05) while 27 of these genes were significantly affected in both breeds. Likewise, 477 and 16 Gene Ontology (GO) terms were significantly enriched in CHB and CS, respectively (P < 1.0 × 10(-4)). A broad range of mechanisms have evolved in resistant CHB to provide protection against the parasite. Our findings suggest that readily inducible acute inflammatory responses, complement activation, accelerated cell proliferation and subsequent tissue repair, and immunity directed against parasite fecundity all contributed to the development of host resistance to parasitic infection in the resistant breed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering &TEES-AgriLife Center for Bioinformatics and Genomic Systems Engineering (CBGSE) Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Zhengyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge Francisco
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: González
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain.
authors.forename: Julia N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Tom N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: McNeilly
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Corripio-Miyar
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frew
authors.affiliation: Moredun Research Institute, Midlothian EH26 0PZ, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Tyler
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering &TEES-AgriLife Center for Bioinformatics and Genomic Systems Engineering (CBGSE) Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Research Service (USDA-ARS), Animal Genomics and Improvement Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000018:Abomasum / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D060467:Disease Resistance; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006188:Haemonchiasis / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006189:Haemonchus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000276:immunology; D059208:Parasite Load; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*; D013030:Spain