{
  "abstract": "Spotty Liver Disease (SLD) is an acute bacterial infection of layer chickens in production, caused by Campylobacter hepaticus, and occurs most frequently in barn-housed and free-range systems. The disease is characterized by a sharp decline in egg production and increased mortality. The hallmark pathological feature is 1–2 mm white to grey necrotic foci distributed across the liver surface. Despite its growing economic impact on commercial poultry, the molecular mechanisms underlying host responses to C. hepaticus infection remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we performed a comprehensive transcriptome analysis of liver tissue from chickens naturally infected with SLD compared to uninfected controls. Illumina NovaSeq-based RNA sequencing was performed on liver tissues collected from three SLD-infected and three uninfected control chickens, with three biological samples for each sample type (n = 6), yielding 9,277 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), of which 3,063 were upregulated and 6,214 were downregulated. Functional pathway enrichment analysis revealed significant alterations in immune and metabolic processes associated with SLD pathophysiology. Infected chickens exhibited significant activation of immune response pathways, particularly cytokine-cytokine receptor interactions involving interleukins IL-22, IL-21, and IL-6, along with enhanced cell signaling, and cell adhesion. Among the individual genes, C1QTNF1 and the adhesion molecule gene ADGRD1 were notably overexpressed, indicating enhanced inflammatory activity. In contrast, core hepatic metabolic functions were profoundly reduced (adjusted p < 0.05) as evidenced by downregulation of oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid metabolism, iron ion binding, and heme binding pathways. A marked increase in serum amyloid A (SAA) gene expression further indicated robust acute-phase responses and compromised liver function during infection. Together, these findings demonstrate a complex interplay between inflammatory activation and metabolic dysregulation during SLD. The strong upregulation of acute-phase proteins and pro-inflammatory cytokines demonstrates the host’s vigorous attempt to combat bacterial infection, whereas the concurrent suppression of essential metabolic pathways reflects the pathological consequences of SLD. This study provides a transcriptomic characterization of host responses to C. hepaticus infection, offering insights into SLD pathogenesis and potential avenues for targeted intervention.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Comparative Diagnostics and Population Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America",
    "Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America"
  ],
  "article_type": "Research Article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Varsha Bommineni"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lekshmi K. Edison"
    },
    {
      "name": "Chaitanya Gottapu"
    },
    {
      "name": "Gary D. Butcher"
    },
    {
      "name": "Subhashinie Kariyawasam"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/drfdhc9ebjrvz.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0346466",
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  "id": "drfdhc9ebjrvz",
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    "1932-6203"
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  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0346466",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
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      "openalex",
      "1106|Salmonella and Campylobacter epidemiology"
    ],
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      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Biochemistry/Metabolism/Metabolic pathways"
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      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Computational biology/Genome analysis/Gene ontologies"
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      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Computational biology/Genome analysis/Transcriptome analysis"
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      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Gene expression"
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      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Genomics/Genome analysis/Gene ontologies"
    ],
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      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Genomics/Genome analysis/Transcriptome analysis"
    ],
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      "/Biology and life sciences/Immunology/Immune response"
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    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Immunology/Immune response/Inflammation"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Organisms/Eukaryota/Animals/Vertebrates/Amniotes/Birds/Fowl/Gamefowl/Chickens"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Organisms/Eukaryota/Animals/Vertebrates/Amniotes/Birds/Poultry/Chickens"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Physiology/Reproductive physiology/Eggs/Bird eggs/Chicken eggs"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Zoology/Animals/Vertebrates/Amniotes/Birds/Fowl/Gamefowl/Chickens"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Zoology/Animals/Vertebrates/Amniotes/Birds/Poultry/Chickens"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Clinical medicine/Signs and symptoms/Inflammation"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Immunology/Immune response"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Immunology/Immune response/Inflammation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213440047",
  "pdf_url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0346466&type=printable",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-16",
  "publisher": "Public Library of Science",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/drfdhc9ebjrvz.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:49Z",
      "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0346466",
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      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0346466"
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "plos:computational biology",
      "subfield": "bioinformatics"
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    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "plos:genomics",
      "subfield": "genetics-genomics"
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    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "plos:immunology",
      "subfield": "immunology"
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  ],
  "title": "Hepatic transcriptomic landscape of chicken reveals host responses to spotty liver disease",
  "title_text": "Hepatic transcriptomic landscape of chicken reveals host responses to spotty liver disease",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:49Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/drfdhc9ebjrvz",
  "venue": "PLOS One",
  "versions": []
}