ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Infectious Diseases
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1667623
Transcriptional Profiles of Vaccine-induced Protection in bovine herpesvirus-1 and Mycoplasma bovis-Challenged Bison
Provisionally accepted
Anna K Goldkamp
Bryan S Kaplan
Harish Menghwar
Carly Kanipe
Paola M BoggiattoLauren S Crawford
Steven OlsenRobert E BriggsFred M Tatum
Rohana P Dassanayake
Eduardo Casas*- National Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), Ames, United States
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Mycoplasma bovis causes chronic respiratory disease with high mortality rates in American bison (Bison bison). A recent study showed that a subunit vaccine containing M. bovis elongation factor thermal unstable (EFTu) and heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) antigens induced immunity and enhanced protection in bison, resulting in reduced lung lesions and bacterial loads following experimental M. bovis challenge. This study aimed to characterize the transcriptional responses underlying this protection in vaccinated (n = 5) compared to unvaccinated control (n = 4) bison following M. bovis infection. Two doses of vaccines were administered on day 0 and at 21 days post-vaccination (DPV), followed by intranasal inoculation with bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) at 36 DPV and M. bovis at 40 DPV. RNA sequencing was performed on liver, palatine tonsil (PT), retropharyngeal lymph node (RPLN), tracheobronchial lymph node (TBLN), spleen, and whole blood samples. Blood was collected at 1st vaccination (Day 0), 2nd vaccination (21 days post-vaccination), BHV-1 inoculation (36 DPV), M. bovis inoculation (40 DPV), and 1 week post M. bovis inoculation (47 DPV). The greatest number of differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) (≤ 0.05 FDR) were found in blood at 36 DPV (123 total DETs) and in spleen (57 DETs). At 36 DPV, vaccinated animals showed upregulation of transcripts involved in in cell adhesion, T-helper cell (Th1/Th2/Th17) differentiation, and antigen processing and presentation. This signifies a robust response to the 2nd vaccine dose, which caused increased expression of CD3E, CD4, and CD8B correlating to increased T cell proliferation. Notably, transcription factors TBX21 and GATA3 were upregulated in vaccinated animals. Spleen-specific regulation included transcripts involved in innate immune response, such as LGALS3 and GBP-1. These findings highlight the robust immune response induced by the vaccine, particularly through T-cell mediated responses, demonstrating its potential to enhance protective immunity against M. bovis in bison.
Keywords: Animal Health, Wild species, Infectious Disease, Transcriptome, Mycoplasma bovis
Received: 16 Jul 2025; Accepted: 18 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Goldkamp, Kaplan, Menghwar, Kanipe, Boggiatto, Crawford, Olsen, Briggs, Tatum, Dassanayake and Casas. 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: Eduardo Casas, National Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), Ames, United States
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