Host Immune Response Modulation in Avian Coronavirus Infection: Tracheal Transcriptome Profiling In Vitro and In Vivo

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is a highly contagious Gammacoronavirus causing moderate to severe respiratory infection in chickens. Understanding the initial antiviral response in the respiratory mucosa is crucial for controlling viral spread. We aimed to characterize the impact of IBV Delmarva (DMV)/1639 and IBV Massachusetts (Mass) 41 at the primary site of infection, namely, in chicken tracheal epithelial cells (cTECs) in vitro and the trachea in vivo. We hypothesized that some elements of the induced antiviral responses are distinct in both infection models. We inoculated cTECs and infected young specific pathogen-free (SPF) chickens with IBV DMV/1639 or IBV Mass41, along with mock-inoculated controls, and studied the transcriptome using RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) at 3 and 18 h post-infection (hpi) for cTECs and at 4 and 11 days post-infection (dpi) in the trachea. We showed that IBV DMV/1639 and IBV Mass41 replicate in cTECs in vitro and the trachea in vivo, inducing host mRNA expression profiles that are strain- and time-dependent. We demonstrated the different gene expression patterns between in vitro and in vivo tracheal IBV infection. Ultimately, characterizing host-pathogen interactions with various IBV strains reveals potential mechanisms for inducing and modulating the immune response during IBV infection in the chicken trachea.