During infection, cells from innate immunity, such as macrophages, neutrophils, and dendritic cells recognize the parasite by pathogen-associated molecular patterns (Hou et al., 2011; Koblansky et al., 2013; Gorfu et al., 2014) and produce high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-12, which activates CD4+ T lymphocytes to produce interferon (IFN)-γ, the major cytokine involved in control of T. gondii (Gazzinelli et al., 1994; Kemp et al., 2013; Koblansky et al., 2013; Behnke et al., 2017). Here, IFNG is linked to infection.