Host transcriptome profiling reveals the IL1RAP as a potential candidate gene for the resistance against Lumpy Skin Disease

Abstract To better understand the mechanisms underlying the response diversity to Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV), we studied differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between two recovered versus three non-recovered Holstein bulls before the infection challenge and three time points after that. The host transcriptome profiling revealed that IL1RAP gene expression could be a potential determinant in distinguishing between resilient and susceptible cattle (p adj < 0.05). It was significantly shifted from up-regulated prior to infection to down-regulated three days post-infection in the LSD-resilient cattle. Its expression remained up-regulated among the susceptible cattle post-infection compared to pre-infection. The results showed that seven days post-infection may be a critical time point for LSD infection. The Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway enrichment test showed a few enriched GO terms and pathways relevant to the LSD and the involvement of the IL1RAP gene. This pilot study, with limited statistical power, is the first to investigate bovine gene expression profiling in response to LSDV and needs a larger independent trial to confirm the findings.