ABSTRACT
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) represent a prominent category of pattern recognition receptors that have been extensively investigated for their pivotal role in combating pathogen incursions. Despite this, there has been a notable absence of comprehensive identification and exploration of the immune response associated with the TLR family genes in C. altivelis. This study successfully identified and named fourteen genes as Catlr1-1, Catlr1-2, Catlr2-1, Catlr2-2, Catlr3, Catlr5, Catlr7, Catlr8, Catlr9, Catlr13-1, Catlr13-2, Catlr18, Catlr21, and Catlr22. A series of bioinformatic analysis were performed, encompassing analysis of protein properties, examination of gene structures, evolutionary assessments, and prediction of protein tertiary structures. The expression patterns of Catlr genes were analyzed in five immune tissues: liver, spleen, kidney, gill, and intestine, in both healthy and bacterial stimulated-fish. The results showed that different tissue and different genes showed differed expression patterns after V. harveyi infection, indicating the involvement of all Catlr members in mounting immune responses following infection in various tissues. Additionally, histological evaluations of immune tissues unveiled varying levels of damage. In conclusion, this investigation into the TLR gene family offers novel information that contribute to a more profound comprehension of the immune response mechanisms in C. altivelis.
Subject(s)
Fish Diseases , Fish Proteins , Gene Expression Profiling , Phylogeny , Toll-Like Receptors , Vibrio , Animals , Fish Proteins/genetics , Fish Proteins/immunology , Fish Proteins/chemistry , Gene Expression Profiling/veterinary , Toll-Like Receptors/genetics , Toll-Like Receptors/immunology , Toll-Like Receptors/chemistry , Fish Diseases/immunology , Vibrio/physiology , Vibrio Infections/immunology , Vibrio Infections/veterinary , Immunity, Innate/genetics , Gene Expression Regulation/immunology , Multigene Family , Sequence Alignment/veterinary , Amino Acid SequenceABSTRACT
Genetic diversity is an important component of biodiversity and investigating and protecting the wild genetic diversity of species has always been an important research topic in conservation biology. Due to habitat destruction and over catching, wild Chinese soft-shell turtles (Pelodiscus spp.) have been severely damaged, resulting in the species being listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2000. However, only few studies with contradictory results on the genetic diversity of Pelodiscus turtles have been reported. To investigate the genetic diversity and population structure of Pelodiscus turtles, 123 specimens were collected from five localities in East Asia, and their genetic variation was analyzed on the basis of a 922-bp partial sequence of the mitochondrial cytb gene. Forty-nine polymorphic sites were detected, revealing 56 haplotypes. A pattern of high haplotype diversity (Hd = 0.994) and nucleotide diversity (π = 0.01655) was found in the examined range. A maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree and median-joining network analyses indicated that the Pelodiscus turtles divided in four populations throughout East Asia, and the Pelodiscus turtles probably originate from the Yangtze River and was introduced to Yellow River, Taiwan, and Japan through Xijiang River. These results served a helpful resource for conservation of Pelodiscus turtles.