**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** INFECTIONS SUCH AS COCCIDIOSIS AND NECROTIC ENTERITIS CAN AFFECT THE INTESTINE OF CHICKENS, WHICH LEADS TO DISEASE AND DEATH. THE IMMUNE CELL RECEPTORS CALLED CLUSTERED HOMOLOG OF IMMUNOGLOBULIN-LIKE RECEPTORS-B (CHIR) ARE THOUGHT TO DECREASE IMMUNE RESPONSES. CHIR-B ARE DIFFERENTIALLY EXPRESSED IN DISEASE-RESISTANT COMPARED TO DISEASE-SUSCEPTIBLE CHICKENS. THE PROPOSED APPROACH WILL ALLOW SUB-POPULATIONS OF CELLS IN A COMPLEX TISSUE TO BE IDENTIFIED, HOW THESE CELLS RESPOND TO INFECTION, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, REVEAL THE SPATIAL RELATIONSHIP OF THE SIGNALING MOLECULES ACTIVATED, AND HOW THEY CO-LOCALIZE WITH CHIR-B. THIS WILL GREATLY IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF WHICH CELLS ARE RESPONDING TO INFECTION AND CHARACTERIZE PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN SUBPOPULATIONS. FURTHERMORE, BECAUSE CELLULAR RESPONSES ARE HIGHLY COMPARTMENTALIZED IN THE INTESTINE, UNDERSTANDING WHERE THESE RESPONSES OCCUR WITHIN A TISSUE, CAN SHOW HOW SOME ANIMALS ARE RESISTANT TO COCCIDIOSIS INFECTIONS. THIS WILL PROVIDE THE GENETIC BIOMARKERS AVAILABLE FOR SELECTIVE BREEDING CHICKENS THAT POSSESS HIGH PRODUCTION TRAITS AS WELL AS A ROBUST IMMUNE SYSTEM.