Abstract
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is an economic burden on the swine industry, resulting in losses not only related to animal death but also to reduced offspring productivity. Understanding the underlying molecular pathways that contribute to decreased feed efficiency and behaviors that result in poorer performance is important for the implementation of management practices that aim to mitigate the effects of PRRSV. To uncover the long-term effects of PRRSV infection during gestation, a transcriptome analysis of the amygdala of 22-day-old piglet offspring from maternal PRRSV activated and control gilts was undertaken. Overall, 161 genes were differentially expressed between the PRRSV and control piglet offspring. Many of the genes were over-expressed in pigs from PRRSV compared to control gilts, such as interferon induced transmembrane protein 3 and neuron derived neurotrophic factor. Few genes were under-expressed, including insulin-like growth factor 2 and aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family member A1. The detection of these dysregulated genes and the directionality of their differential expression yielded insights into the effects that maternal PRRSV infection has on the neural pathways of the offspring amygdala. This furthers our understanding of molecular processes underlying pathological behaviors that may be exhibited by these pigs, affecting management and production. This study is supported by USDA NIFA AFRI, grant number 2018-67015-27413.