Duck genome
Citation:
Yinhua Huang, Yingrui Li, David W Burt, Hualan Chen, Yong Zhang, Wubin Qian, Heebal Kim, Shangquan Gan, Yiqiang Zhao, Jianwen Li, Kang Yi, Huapeng Feng, Pengyang Zhu, Bo Li, Qiuyue Liu, Suan Fairley, Katharine E Magor, Zhenlin Du, Xiaoxiang Hu, Laurie Goodman, Hakim Tafer, Alain Vignal, Taeheon Lee, Kyu-Won Kim, Zheya Sheng, Yang An, Steve Searle, Javier Herrero, Martien A M Groenen, Richard P M A Crooijmans, Thomas Faraut, Qingle Cai, Robert G Webster, Jerry R Aldridge, Wesley C Warren, Sebastian Bartschat, Stephanie Kehr, Manja Marz, Peter F Stadler, Jacqueline Smith, Robert H S Kraus, Yaofeng Zhao, Liming Ren, Jing Fei, Mireille Morisson, Pete Kaiser, Darren K Griffin, Man Rao, Frederique Pitel, Jun Wang, and Ning Li, 'The Duck Genome and Transcriptome Provide Insight into an Avian Influenza Virus Reservoir Species', Nature genetics, (2013).
Abstract:
The duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is one of the principal natural hosts of influenza A viruses. We present the duck genome sequence and perform deep transcriptome analyses to investigate immune-related genes. Our data indicate that the duck possesses a contractive immune gene repertoire, as in chicken and zebra finch, and this repertoire has been shaped through lineage-specific duplications. We identify genes that are responsive to influenza A viruses using the lung transcriptomes of control ducks and ones that were infected with either a highly pathogenic (A/duck/Hubei/49/05) or a weakly pathogenic (A/goose/Hubei/65/05) H5N1 virus. Further, we show how the duck's defense mechanisms against influenza infection have been optimized through the diversification of its β-defensin and butyrophilin-like repertoires. These analyses, in combination with the genomic and transcriptomic data, provide a resource for characterizing the interaction between host and influenza viruses.