The chemokinome superfamily in channel catfish: I. CXC subfamily and their involvement in disease defense and hypoxia responses

Qiang Fu, Qifan Zeng, Yun Li, Yujia Yang, Chao Li, Shikai Liu, Tao Zhou, Ning Li, Jun Yao, Chen Jiang, Daoji Li, Zhanjiang Liu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

Chemokines are a superfamily of structurally related chemotactic cytokines exerting significant roles in regulating cell migration and activation. They are defined by the presence of four conserved cysteine residues and are divided into four subfamilies depending on the arrangement of the first two conserved cysteines residues: CXC, CC, C and CX3C. In this study, a complete set of 17 CXC chemokine ligand (CXCL) genes was systematically identified and characterized from channel catfish genome through data mining of existing genomic resources. Phylogenetic analysis allowed annotation of the 17 CXC chemokines. Extensive comparative genomic analyses supported their annotations and orthologies, revealing the existence of fish-specific CXC chemokines and the expansion of CXC chemokines in the teleost genomes. The analysis of gene expression after bacterial infection indicated the CXC chemokines were expressed in a gene-specific manner. CXCL11.3 and CXCL20.3 were expressed significantly higher in resistant fish than in susceptible fish after ESC infection, while CXCL20.2 were expressed significantly higher in resistant fish than in susceptible fish after columnaris infection. The expression of those CXC chemokines, therefore can be a useful indicator of disease resistance. A similar pattern of expression was observed between resistant and susceptible fish with biotic and abiotic stresses, ESC, columnaris and hypoxia, suggesting that high levels of expression of the majority of CXC chemokines, with exception of CXC11 and CXC20, are detrimental to the host.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)380-390
Number of pages11
JournalFish and Shellfish Immunology
Volume60
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Chemokine
  • Disease resistance
  • Fish
  • Genome
  • Innate immunity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Aquatic Science

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