Metagenomic characterisation of the caecal microbiota of XCR1 wild-type and knockout chickens, with and without infectious bronchitis virus vaccination
XCR1+ dendritic cells play an important role in limiting the immune response to members of the gut microbiota, preventing inflammation and maintaining gut homeostasis. Mice lacking XCR1+ cDCs have a proinflammatory gut environment and are prone to opportunistic infections by commensals. As chickens contain greater numbers of these cells in their guts than mammals, it is expected that they would also play a role in controlling gut inflammation.  In this study the gut microbiota of wild-type (HET) and XCR1 knockout (HOM) chickens was characterised, with and without infectious bronchitis virus vaccination. DNA was extracted from caecal contents, sequenced via Illumina and Pacbio Hifi sequencing, and used to construct metagenome assembled genomes.