Differentially DNA Methylated Regions Analysis Between ILTV (Infectious Laryngo Tracheitis Virus) Infected and Non-Infected Chickens

Infectious laryngo tracheitis (ILT) is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by an alphaherpes virus called ILTV or gallid herpesvirus 1 (GaHV-1). The disease occurs worldwide and displays different symptoms, from acute to mild, but always having a negative economic impact on poultry production. Vaccination is available but results have demonstrated limited success for preventing outbreaks.  Development of new alternatives for controlling the disease requires a better understanding of the genetic and epigenetic processes that occur in the host during disease progression. Methylation is a major epigenetic modification that could play an important role during the immunological response.  For this reason, we performed a genome-wide DNA methylation analysis by MBD-seq (Methyl-CpG binding domain protein sequencing) method between infected and non-infected chickens and identified 407 differentially methylated regions. Our findings may serve as a base to understand the implications of methylation in the ILT pathology and also could be combined with other genetic and epigenetic studies to develop novel approaches for ILT control.