Transcriptional profile of Marek's disease virus genes in chicken thymus during different phases of MDV infection.

In this study, 86 Marek's disease virus (MDV) transcripts were detected in chicken thymus infected with RB1B strain. Forty-seven of them, which were mainly involved in viral replication and immune escape, were detected at 7 days postinfection (dpi). Expression of most of the genes was increased at 21 and 28 dpi but reduced or shut down at 14 dpi. Unlike others tissues, we found that a latent infection was established at 14 dpi in infected thymus. Here, we show the kinetics of expression of MDV transcripts and their relative expression in infected thymus.