Novel MicroRNA Involved in Host Response to Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli Identified by Deep Sequencing and Integration Analysis

Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) causes one of the most common bacterial diseases of poultry worldwide. Effective control methods are therefore desirable and will be facilitated by a better understanding of the host response to the pathogen. Currently, microRNAs (miRNAs) involved in host resistance to APEC are unknown. Here, we applied RNA sequencing to explore the changed miRNAs and deregulated genes in the spleen of three groups of broilers: nonchallenged (NC), APEC-challenged with mild pathology (CM), and APEC-challenged with severe pathology (CS). Twenty-seven differentially expressed miRNAs (fold change >1.5; P value