This study examined genetic variation in the major histocompatibility complex(MHC) Class II B gene in turbot(Scophthalmus maximus) by virulent bacterial pathogen challenge.One hundred fry from each of six families were infected with Edwardsiella tarda by intraperitoneal injection.Family mortality ranged from 28.0% to 83.3%.Complete exon 2 and intron 1 sequences of MHC Class II B genes were amplified from five survivor and five non-survivor individuals per family using the clone-sequence method.Thirty-seven sequences from 60 individuals revealed 37 different alleles,25 of which were unique to this study.The 25 unique alleles belonged to 16 major allele types.Nine alleles were used to examine the association between alleles and resistance/susceptibility to disease.Five alleles were present in an individual,suggesting a minimum of three loci or copies of the turbot MHC Class II B gene.The rate of non-synonymous substitution(d N) was 2.30 and 1.58 times higher than synonymous substitution(d S) in the peptide-binding regions(PBR) and non-PBR in whole families,respectively,which suggested balancing selection on exon 2 of the MHC Class II B gene in turbot.One allele,Scma-DBB1*02,was significantly more prevalent in survivor stock than in non-survivor stock(P=0.001).Therefore,this allele might be associated with resistance to bacteria.A second allele,Scma-DBB1*10,was significantly more prevalent in non-survivor stock(P=0.021),and is likely associated with susceptibility to bacteria.
DU MinCHEN SongLinLIU YanHongNIU BaoZhenYANG JingFengZHANG Bo
Over the last 30 years,aquaculture has become the fastest growing form of agriculture production in the world,but its development has been hampered by a diverse range of pathogenic viruses.During the last decade,a large number of viruses from aquatic animals have been identified,and more than 100 viral genomes have been sequenced and genetically characterized.These advances are leading to better understanding about antiviral mechanisms and the types of interaction occurring between aquatic viruses and their hosts.Here,based on our research experience of more than 20 years,we review the wealth of genetic and genomic information from studies on a diverse range of aquatic viruses,including iridoviruses,herpesviruses,reoviruses,and rhabdoviruses,and outline some major advances in our understanding of virus–host interactions in animals used in aquaculture.
