Clostridium perfringens-induced host-pathogen transcriptional changes in the small intestine of broiler chickens

Clostridium perfringens (Cp) is an important opportunistic pathogen that may result in toxin-mediated diseases involving food poisoning/tissue gangrene in humans and various enterotoxaemia in animal species. It is a main etiological agent for necrotic enteritis (NE), the most financially devastating bacterial disease in broiler chickens, especially if they are raised under antibiotic-free condition, and is responsible for $6 billion loss annually in global poultry industry. To investigate the molecular mechanisms of Cp-induced pathogenesis in the gut and its microbiome mRNA levels in Cp-infected and non-infected hosts, we used RNA sequencing technology to perform transcriptional analysis of both host intestine and Cp pathogen using our NE model. The growth rate was significantly impaired in chickens infected by C. perfringens. In total, 13473 annotated chicken genes were differentially expressed between these two groups with ninety-six genes showing statistical significance (|absolute fold changes| >2.0, adjust P value < 0.05). Genes from infected gut tissues were also down-regulated including those involved in energy production, amino acid, nucleotide and carbohydrate metabolism, MHC Class I antigen, translation and ribosomal structures. The up-regulated genes were mainly involved in innate and adaptive immunity, cellular processes, genetic information processing, and organismal systems. It appeared that the transcriptional levels for four important food-borne pathogens were significantly elevated in a synergic relationship with pathogenic Cp infection. This study provides new insights into the mechanism of host-pathogen interaction in C. perfringens-induced NE infection in broiler chickens.