African swine fever virus (ASFV), one of the most devastating emerging swine pathogens in China, causes nearly 100 % mortality in naive herds. Here, whole-transcriptome
RNA-seq analysis was conducted in porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) infected with Pig/Heilongjiang/2018 (Pig/HLJ/18) ASFV at different time points. Our data suggested that ASFV genes expression demonstrated a time-depended pattern and ASFV early genes were involved in antagonizing host innate immunity. Moreover, viral small
RNA (vsRNA) was generated as well. Meanwhile, transcriptome analysis of host genes suggested a strong inhibition host immunity-related genes by ASFV
infection in PAMs, while enhanced
chemokine-mediated signaling pathways and neutrophil chemotaxis were observed in ASFV infected PAMs. Furthermore, ASFV
infection also down-regulated host
microRNAs (
miRNAs) that putatively targeted viral genes, while also triggering dysregulation of host metabolism that promoted virus replication at transcription level. Most importantly,
infection of PAMs with ASFV induced a different transcriptome pattern from that of highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (HP-PRRSV), which is known to trigger a host
cytokine storm. In conclusion, our transcriptome data implied that ASFV
infection in PAMs appeared to be associated with strong inhibition of host immune responses, dysregulation of host
chemokine axis and metabolic pathways.