History and current status of Marek's disease in turkeys

Author(s):  
Awad A. Shehata ◽  
Dörte Lüschow ◽  
Hafez M. Hafez

Marek's disease (MD), caused by a highly contagious and oncogenic herpesvirus, causes immunosuppression and tumors in chickens. Although several reports on the occurring lymphomas (MD-like conditions) in turkeys have been published, less attention has been paid to the disease in this species. Recently, Marek's disease virus (MDV) has been demonstrated in lymphomatous tumors in commercial turkeys in several countries. The present review aimed to describe the past and recent situation of MD in turkeys, including clinical picture and methods used for diagnosis. Additionally, three hypotheses that might explain the emergence of MDV in turkeys, including virus evolution and evolution of MDV variants, modern hybrid turkeys, and raising of turkeys close to chickens, were discussed. The pathogenesis of MDV infection in turkeys remains unclear, and further investigations are necessary. Although herpesvirus of turkey (HVT) vaccine didn't protect turkeys against challenge with a virulent MDV, Rispens strain is effective, highlighting the need for further assessment of the effectiveness of MDV vaccines in turkeys.

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 6-11
Author(s):  
Aly El-Kenawy ◽  
Mohamed El-Tholoth ◽  
Emad A

In the present study, a total of 16 samples including feather follicle epithelium, ovary, spleen and kidney (4 samples for each organ) were collected from diseased chicken flocks suspected to be infected with Marek’s disease virus (MDV) at Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt during the period from October 2016 to October 2017. Each sample was pooled randomly from three to five birds (90 to 360 days old). The isolation of the suspected virus from the collected samples was carried out via chorioallantoic membranes (CAMs) of 12 days old embryonated chicken eggs (ECEs). Three egg passages were carried out for each sample. Hyperimmune serum was prepared against standard MDV. MDV in both field and egg passaged samples (after 3rd passage) was identified by agar gel precipitation test (AGPT) and indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT). Molecular identification of virus was carried out by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real- time PCR in four selected samples. The results revealed that 14 samples (87.5%) including 4 (100%) samples from feather follicle epithelium, ovary and kidney and 2 (50%) samples from spleen, showed positive results in virus isolation after 3rd passage. The positive results percentage by AGPT for field samples were 50% (8 out of 16 samples), while after the 3rd passage in ECEs were 37.5% (6 out of 16 samples) and the positive results percentage by IFAT for field samples were 62.5% (10 out of 16 samples), while after the 3rd passage in ECEs were 81.25 % (13 out of 16 samples). Viral nucleic acid was detected in all selected samples by conventional and real- time PCR. The results indicate that feather follicle epithelium is the best organ for MDV detection. IFAT is superior over AGPT in virus detection. Conventional and real - time PCR could be efficiently used for molecular detection of the virus.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aijun Sun ◽  
Rui Wang ◽  
Shuaikang Yang ◽  
Xiaojing Zhu ◽  
Ying Liu ◽  
...  

AbstractMarek’s disease virus (MDV) induces severe immunosuppression and lymphomagenesis in the chicken, its natural host, and results in a condition that investigated the pathogenesis of MDV and have begun to focus on the expression profiling of circular RNAs (circRNAs). However, little is known about how the expression of circRNAs is referred to as Marek’s disease. Previous reports have is regulated during MDV replication. Here, we carried out a comprehensive profiling analysis of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification on the circRNA transcriptome in infected and uninfected chicken embryonic fibroblast (CEF) cells. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-Seq) revealed that m6A modification was highly conserved in circRNAs. Comparing to the uninfected group, the number of peaks and conserved motifs were not significantly different in cells that were infected with MDV, although reduced abundance of circRNA m6A modifications. However, gene ontology and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses revealed that the insulin signaling pathway was associated with the regulation of m6A modified circRNAs in MDV infection. This is the first report to describe alterations in the transcriptome-wide profiling of m6A modified circRNAs in MDV-infected CEF cells.


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