Transcriptional response of turkey blood leukocytes challenged with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium UK1
Salmonella is one of most common causes of bacterial foodborne disease and consumption of contaminated poultry products, including turkey, is one route of exposure. Minimizing colonization of commercial turkeys with Salmonella could reduce the incidence of Salmonella-associated human foodborne illness. Understanding host responses to these bacteria could lead to potential strategies to minimize colonization and thus food safety risk. In this study, we evaluated bacterial load and blood leukocyte transcriptomic responses of 3-week-old turkeys challenged with the Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) UK1 strain. Turkeys (n = 8/dose) were inoculated with 108 or 1010 colony forming units (CFU) of S. Typhimurium UK1 and fecal shedding and tissue colonization were measured across multiple days post inoculation (dpi). Fecal shedding was 1-2 log10 higher in the 1010 CFU group than the 108 CFU group, but both doses effectively colonized the crop, spleen, ileum, cecum, colon, bursa of Fabricius and cloaca without causing any overt clinical signs in either group of birds. Blood leukocytes were isolated from a subset of the birds (n =3-4/dpi) both pre-infection (0 dpi) and 2 dpi with 1010 CFU and their transcriptomic responses assayed by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). After 2 dpi, 647 genes had significant differential expression (DE), including large increases in expression of immune genes such as CCAH221, IL4I1, LYZ, IL13RA2, IL22RA2, and ACOD1. IL1B was predicted as a major regulator of DE in these leukocytes and this DE was predicted to activate cell migration, phagocytosis and proliferation, and to impact the STAT3 and toll-like receptor pathways. These data revealed genes and pathways by which turkey blood leukocytes responded to the pathogen and can provide potential targets for developing intervention strategies or diagnostic assays to mitigate S. Typhimurium in turkeys. Overall design: RNA-seq of blood leukocytes from 3-week-old turkeys at 0 days-post-inoculation (dpi) and 2 dpi with S. Typhimurium UK1 using the Illumina HiSeq 2500