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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.

Sec. Veterinary Infectious Diseases

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1651294

A newly discovered sRNA is involved in the virulence regulation of Salmonella pullorum

Provisionally accepted
Ting  HeTing He1Meiling  HuangMeiling Huang2Yuling  SunYuling Sun1Yonghui  DingYonghui Ding1Nanlong  ZhouNanlong Zhou3Meihong  FuMeihong Fu1Tiansen  LiTiansen Li1*
  • 1Hainan University, Haikou, China
  • 2Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
  • 3Hainan Vocational University of Science and Technology, Haikou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Background: Salmonella pullorum (S. pullorum), the primary pathogen responsible for avian pullorum disease, has imposed substantial economic losses on the poultry industry. sRNAs, a class of small non-coding RNAs, have been identified in numerous bacterial species and serve as pivotal regulatory factors in bacteria. Methods: A bacterial infection assay was conducted to detect the differential transcription levels of sRNA12 in the macrophage cell HD11.Environmental stress tests, intracellular survival assays, target gene transcription analyses and chick virulence tests were conducted to compare the wild-type strain and the ΔsRNA12 deletion strain. Results: A significant 7.5-fold increase in the transcription level of sRNA12 was observed during the invasion of host cells by bacteria. Under hyperosmotic conditions, the survival ability of the deletion strain was markedly reduced, while in a highly oxidative environment, it was significantly enhanced. Compared with the wild-type strain, the colonization ability of the ΔsRNA12 deletion strain in HD11 cells was enhanced by 3.5-fold.The transcription levels of most target genes of sRNA12, such as ompD, siiE, and prgH, were significantly upregulated. The LD50 of the deletion strain in chicks was approximately three times lower than that of the wild-type strain. Moreover, the colonization abilities of the deletion strain in the liver, spleen, and cecum of chicks were significantly enhanced and it induced more severe organ lesions. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the deletion of sRNA12 enhances the virulence of S. pullorum. This research provides novel insights into elucidating the pathogenic mechanism of S. pullorum and the associated regulatory signaling pathways.

Keywords: Salmonella pullorum, sRNA, HD11, Infection, Virulence regulation

Received: 21 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 He, Huang, Sun, Ding, Zhou, Fu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Tiansen Li, Hainan University, Haikou, China

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