Association of Specific Microbes with Marek’s Disease Progression

Marek’s disease (MD) is a commercially important neoplastic disease of chickens caused by the Marek’s disease virus (MDV), a naturally occurring oncogenic alphaherpesvirus. Clear differences in genetic resistance to MD have been demonstrated using various chicken lines. What is unknown is whether gut microbes may contribute or modulate the response to MDV infection? To address this question, we characterized the immune response as well as profiled for microbial species in the ceca of experimental chicken lines that are genetically MD resistant or susceptible. Our results indicate differences in CD4⁺ T cells, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), and CD8α/α profiles occur between the two lines and/or in response to MDV infection. In addition, significant baseline differences in core-gut flora populations between the two uninfected chicken lines were found with specific operational taxonomic units (OTUs) enriched over the sampled time points. In conclusion, our data suggests differences in core-gut microbiome between chicken lines before and after MDV infection could serve in the development of indicators or understanding bacterial immune effectors.