The host gene expression response to specific BRD pathogens

Abstract

Bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) is an important cause of economic loss to the cattle industry. Despite the development of numerous vaccines and much scientific investigation, the impact of BRDC on cattle producers remains high. Increased pressure to decrease the use of antibiotics in livestock medicine contributes to the urgency to find a better way to decrease the incidence of BRDC. A consortium of investigators funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture was assembled to address this issue using the most recent genetic technology. The work presented herein summarizes a series of experiments in which steers were infected with single pathogens of BRDC (bovine respiratory syncytial virus, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, bovine viral diarrhea virus, Mannheimia haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, and Mycoplasma bovis) and their bronchial lymph node RNA transcriptomes were then analyzed to determine gene usage in infected vs control animals. Results showed activation of multiple pathways related to innate and acquired immune responses.