Understanding the contribution of immune genes to disease resistance in an economically important farm animal, the chicken
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Cambridge
Department Name: Pathology
Abstract
Theme: Agriculture and Food Security
The chicken major histocompatibility complex (MHC) has been found to have strong genetic associations with resistance to a wide variety of infectious pathogens, including some causing economically important diseases such as Marek's disease. It is not known how many alleles of MHC genes exist, or the extent to which each contributes to resistance to particular infectious diseases.
This project will use a new typing method, combining PCR and next generation sequencing (PCR-NGS), to obtain MHC genotype data for all classical class I and class IIB genes for 1000 birds at a time. Typing of commercial birds is ongoing in the Kaufman group and the project will continue this work, extending into non-commercial "fancy" breeds, village chickens in Africa and Asia (through existing collaborations in these countries) and red jungle fowl, the wild ancestor of domesticated chickens. Allele and haplotype variation within and between these populations will be established.
Disease resistance will be investigated via existing collaborations using experimentally infected chickens. There is also the possibility to examine ill and healthy birds in field outbreaks of relevant infectious diseases.
The project may be extended to investigate the Y-F ("non-classical class I") region by developing a PCR-NGS system for the chicken Y locus.
This project will provide information on the evolution, structure and function of the chicken MHC region which will be interesting at a basic scientific level and also have important implications in the commercial sector. The work could be used to develop vaccines for birds, improve commercial breeding strategies and/or address the public health issue of zoonotic disease.
This project will use NGS for rapid high-throughput sequencing and typing of chickens at the allele level which will produce large datasets requiring complex computational analysis. Data from experimental infection studies or field outbreaks will require similar manipulation to extract meaning from the sequencing results, although the statistical analysis to discern associations will be different to the population genetic analysis.
The chicken major histocompatibility complex (MHC) has been found to have strong genetic associations with resistance to a wide variety of infectious pathogens, including some causing economically important diseases such as Marek's disease. It is not known how many alleles of MHC genes exist, or the extent to which each contributes to resistance to particular infectious diseases.
This project will use a new typing method, combining PCR and next generation sequencing (PCR-NGS), to obtain MHC genotype data for all classical class I and class IIB genes for 1000 birds at a time. Typing of commercial birds is ongoing in the Kaufman group and the project will continue this work, extending into non-commercial "fancy" breeds, village chickens in Africa and Asia (through existing collaborations in these countries) and red jungle fowl, the wild ancestor of domesticated chickens. Allele and haplotype variation within and between these populations will be established.
Disease resistance will be investigated via existing collaborations using experimentally infected chickens. There is also the possibility to examine ill and healthy birds in field outbreaks of relevant infectious diseases.
The project may be extended to investigate the Y-F ("non-classical class I") region by developing a PCR-NGS system for the chicken Y locus.
This project will provide information on the evolution, structure and function of the chicken MHC region which will be interesting at a basic scientific level and also have important implications in the commercial sector. The work could be used to develop vaccines for birds, improve commercial breeding strategies and/or address the public health issue of zoonotic disease.
This project will use NGS for rapid high-throughput sequencing and typing of chickens at the allele level which will produce large datasets requiring complex computational analysis. Data from experimental infection studies or field outbreaks will require similar manipulation to extract meaning from the sequencing results, although the statistical analysis to discern associations will be different to the population genetic analysis.
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB/M011194/1 | 01/10/2015 | 31/03/2024 | |||
| 1804478 | Studentship | BB/M011194/1 | 01/10/2016 | 31/03/2021 | Rebecca Martin |
| Description | Lab-based family activities as part of Cambridge Science Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Simple hands-on experiments were organised for a Department activity day as part of the Cambridge Science Festival. The activities run all day and are extremely popular, attracting mainly families. Members of the lab run the activities and talk to parents or visitors with a more specific interest in talking about the research done by the scientists. Children seem excited and engaged. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017,2018 |
| URL | https://www.sciencefestival.cam.ac.uk/events/your-amazing-immune-system |