Genomics of Response to Environmental Challenges of Poultry

Provision of high-quality, animal-based foods to meet the rapidly increasing demands of the world population will require increased efficiency of production. To achieve the goal of a food-secure world, the losses due to disease and environmental stressors must be reduced. One component of a diverse portfolio of strategies that can be used to address the urgent need for increased efficiency is genetic improvement of farm animals. To knowledgeably enhance the resilience of livestock and poultry populations, increased understanding is required of the diverse mechanisms and the genetic control of host response to important pathogens and to abiotic stressors such as heat.  

Developing a greater knowledge base of the host genomic response can be based upon many levels of biological complexity, including isolated cells, individual tissues, whole animals, inbred lines, experimental populations and commercial lines. Studying diverse types of biotic challenges, including parasites, bacteria and viruses, as well as abiotic challenges such as heat stress, helps to elucidate those genomic responses that are relatively specific to a perturbation versus those that are conserved across a wide range of different challenges. Additionally, using analyses that capture deep phenotypes, gene expression and genetic structural variation each give different insights into the relationship of genetic variation and important biological traits. Examples will be presented of studies from the author’s and collaborators’ labs on genomics of response to pathogens and to heat stress in poultry.