N. Daniel Joy Chandran

Transcriptional response of chicken embryo cells to Newcastle disease virus (D58 strain) infection

Newcastle disease virus (NDV), the causative agent of Newcastle disease (ND) in chicken causes significant economic loss for the poultry industry worldwide. The mechanism involved in host response to NDV infection is not well understood. For better understanding of the virus–host interaction; transcriptional profile of some genes of chicken embryo (CE) cells infected with NDV vaccine strain D58 was established using quantitative RT-PCR SYBR Green method. The relative standard curve method was used to measure the level of transcripts of the cellular genes against an endogenous control (β actin) gene. Among the genes studied, IFN α, IFN γ, MHC I and DDX 1 were up-regulated while IL 6 was down regulated. The expression of viral genes (M and F) in the infected CE cells was also confirmed by relative quantification. The host cellular genes involved in pro-inflammatory response, interferon-regulated proteins and the cellular immune response were affected by NDV infection, indicating involvement of complex signaling pathways of host cell responses to the infection. Thus, this study contributes to the understanding of the pathogenesis of ND and provides an insight into the virus–host interaction.

Agglutination of chicken lymphocytes by infectious bursal disease virus

Four serotype 1 field strains of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) and one reference standard serotype 1 strain were tested for their ability to agglutinate peripheral blood lymphocytes of chickens. All the five strains agglutinated chicken lymphocytes. The agglutination was not inhibited by serotype 1 reference anti-IBDV serum. These results suggest the need for detailed analysis of IBDV ligand(s) and cell surface receptor(s) relationships.