Comparative analysis of transcriptional profiles of retinoic-acid-induced gene I-like receptors and interferons in seven tissues from ducks infected with avian Tembusu virus

Avian Tembusu virus (ATV), an emerging virus that mainly infects laying and breeding ducks in China, has caused severe economic loss in duck industry. However, there have been no reports about host innate immune responses during ATV infection and its correlation with clinical signs or pathology. To identify the roles of these immune factors in the innate host response to ATV infection, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) was used to analyze the transcriptional profiles on the genes encoding two retinoic-acid-induced gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors (RLRs) and two interferons (INF-alpha and INF-gamma) in seven tissues of an ATV-infected shelduck. After infection with ATV, both RLR genes were significantly upregulated (P < 0.05) in all seven tissues. The peak expression levels of the two RLR genes were observed at 24 hours postinfection (hpi) and were higher in non-lymphoid tissues (liver, lung, kidney, and ovary) than in lymphoid tissues (thymus, spleen and bursa). Although the transcription levels of both IFN genes were also upregulated, they showed different time-dependent expression patterns compared with those of the RLR genes. In addition, the highest mRNA expression of the two IFN genes was observed in the ovary at 6 hpi. This observation suggests that the ovary is the primary target tissue in ATV infection and explains the clinical characteristics of the primary pathological changes in the ovaries of ATV-infected ducks. Our results, for the first time, elucidate the differential and coordinated expression profiles of two RLRs and two IFNs in an ATV-infected shelduck.