Interaction networks and pathway analysis of genetic resistance to gastrointestinal nematodes in sheep

• Published in: Tropical animal health and production 2023-02, Vol.55 (1), p.34-34, Article 34
• Main Authors: Rafeie, Farjad, Abdoli, Ramin, Hossein-Zadeh, Navid Ghavi, Talebi, Reza, Szmatoła, Tomasz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Annotations; Biomarkers; Biomedical and Life Sciences; blood; Blood cells; cell movement; chemoattractants; Chemokine receptors; chemokines; Chemotaxis; Chromosomes; CXCR2 protein; CXCR4 protein; Cytokines; Data mining; gastrointestinal nematodes; Gene mapping; Gene sequencing; Genes; Genetic analysis; Genetic diversity; genetic resistance; Genomes; Immune system; Infections; Interleukin 13; Interleukin 2 receptors; interleukin-4; interleukin-5; Intestinal parasites; Leukocyte migration; Leukocytes; Life Sciences; ligands; Nematoda; nematode control; Nematodes; Network analysis; Parasite resistance; Quantitative trait loci; quantitative traits; Regular Articles; Salvia hispanica; Sheep; Single-nucleotide polymorphism; Stat4 protein; transcriptome; Transcriptomes; Tumor necrosis factor-α; Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science; Whole genome sequencing; Zoology; γ-Interferon
• ISSN: 0049-4747; 1573-7438
• DOI: 10.1007/s11250-022-03448-5

Gastrointestinal nematode (GINs) infections are one of the causative agents of health and economic issues in sheep production systems worldwide. Considerable genetic variations in resistance or susceptibility in different sheep breeds are documented, but published results are conflicting. Recent advances obtained by high-throughput technologies such as commercial SNP chips, whole-genome sequencing, or whole transcriptome profiling provide new insights into breeding for host resistance or nematode control at the genetic levels. This study aimed to identify potential biomarkers associated with the resistance to ovine GINs through a network analysis approach. Comprehensive gene and protein interaction networks were reconstructed for candidate genes involved in the most related immune pathways associated with resistance to ovine GINs using data mining from literature. Generally, 30 genes including CD53 , CHIA , RELN , HRH1 , EPS15 , LRP8 , ATP2B1 , IL4 , IL5 , IL13 , IL2RA , IL23R , TNFα , IFNγ , TBX21 , SH3RF1 , HERC2 , PTPN1 , BIN1 , HERC5 , C3AR1 , NOS2 , STAT5B, STAT4 , CCL1 , CCL8 , VIL1 , CXCR1 , CXCR2 , and CXCR4 located on chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 13, 19, and 20 have been found as containing effective regions with the most related pathways to nematode infections. The results obtained by network analysis showed two functional modules, belonging to the interleukins family ( IL4 , IL5 , IL13 , IL23R , and IL2RA ) and chemokine receptors or ligands family ( CXCR1 , CXCR2 , CXCR4 , CCL1 , and CCL8 ). Interleukins are a group of cytokines that are expressed by white blood cells with a major role in the immune system. Chemokines are also a family of chemoattractant cytokines which play a vital role in cell migration that influence the immune system by a process known as chemotaxis. The results provide useful information for the functional annotation of candidate genes related to parasite resistance and add new information towards a consensus on quantitative trait loci (QTLs) related to the incidence of nematode infections.