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Characterization of TCRβ and IGH Repertoires in the Spleen of Two Chicken Lines with Differential ALV-J Susceptibility Under Normal and Infection Conditions
by
Meihuizi Wang
1,2,
Qihong Zhang
1,2,
Rongyang Ju
1,2,
Junliang Xia
1,2,
Chengxun Xu
1,2,
Weiding Chen
1,2 and
Xiquan Zhang
1,2,* 1
State Key Laboratory of Swine and Poultry Breeding Industry, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Agro-Animal Genomics and Molecular Breeding, College of Animal Science, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
2
Key Laboratory of Chicken Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affair, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2025, 15(3), 334; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15030334
Submission received: 23 December 2024
/
Revised: 17 January 2025
/
Accepted: 22 January 2025
/
Published: 24 January 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Genotype × Environment Interaction on Welfare, Sustainability, and Quality of Poultry Production)
Simple Summary
Some chickens are naturally more resistant to diseases than others. Avian leukosis virus subtype J (ALV-J) is a virus that harms poultry health, and in this study, we compared two chicken strains (E-line and M-line), to understand why their resistance differs. The E-line was more vulnerable to ALV-J, partly because its immune response to the virus was slower. By studying key components of the immune system, we found that the M-line had a wider variety of immune cells, allowing it to recognize more threats. After infection, the two lines adjusted their immune systems differently to fight the virus. These findings suggest that having a diverse range of immune cells helps chickens better resist ALV-J. Understanding this can help breed healthier chickens and improve poultry farming, benefiting both farmers and consumers.
Abstract
This study investigates the immunological factors underlying the differential susceptibility of two chicken strains, E- and M-lines, to avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J). During the eradication of avian leukosis at a chicken breeder farm in Guangdong, we observed strain-specific differences in susceptibility to ALV-J. Moreover, E-line chickens exhibited a slower antibody response to ALV-J compared to M-line chickens. As the T cell receptor (TCR) and B cell receptor (BCR) are critical for antigen recognition, their activation triggers specific immune responses, including antibody production. Using high-throughput sequencing, we characterized the T cell receptor beta (TCRβ) and immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) repertoires in spleen tissues from both chicken strains. The M-line demonstrated higher clonal diversity in both TCRβ and IGH repertoires under normal conditions compared to the E-line, suggesting a broader baseline antigen recognition capacity. Following ALV-J infection, the TCRβ repertoire diversity remained unchanged, while the IGH repertoire displayed distinct clonal expansion patterns and complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) length distributions between the two lines, potentially affecting their ability to recognize ALV-J antigens. Our study provides the first comprehensive comparison of TCRβ and IGH repertoire dynamics in chickens with different ALV-J susceptibilities, offering new insights into the molecular and immunological mechanisms underlying resistance to ALV-J.
