Transcriptome analysis of the spleen of heterophils to lymphocytes ratio-selected chickens revealed their mechanism of differential resistance to Salmonella

Salmonella is one of the most common food-borne pathogens and its resistance in chicken can be improved through genetic selection. The heterophils/lymphocytes (H/L) ratio in the blood reflects the immune system status of chicken. We compared the genome data and spleen transcriptomes between the H/L ratio-selected and non-selected chickens, after Salmonella infection, aiming to identify the key genes participating in the antibacterial activity in the spleen. The results revealed that, the selected population had stronger (P