Abstract
BACKGROUND: Infectious disease outbreaks form major setbacks to aquaculture production and to further development of this important sector. Cyprinid herpes virus-3 (CyHV-3) is a dsDNA virus widely hampering production of common carp (Cyprinus carpio), one of the most farmed fish species worldwide. Genetically disease resistant strains are highly sought after as a sustainable solution to this problem. To study the genetic basis and cellular pathways underlying disease resistance, RNA-Seq was used to characterize transcriptional responses of susceptible and resistant fish at day 4 after CyHV-3 infection. RESULTS: In susceptible fish, over four times more differentially expressed genes were up-regulated between day 0 and 4 compared to resistant fish. Susceptible and resistant fish responded distinctively to infection as only 55 (9%) of the up-regulated genes were shared by these two fish types. Susceptible fish elicited a typical anti-viral response, involving interferon and interferon responsive genes, earlier than resistant fish did. Furthermore, chemokine profiles indicated that the two fish types elicited different cellular immunity responses. A comparative phylogenetic approach assisted in chemokine copies annotation pointing to different orthologous copies common to bony-fishes and even carp-specific paralogs that were differentially regulated and contributed to the different response of these two fish types. Susceptible fish up-regulated more ccl19 chemokines, which attract T-cells and macrophages, the anti-viral role of which is established, whereas resistant fish up-regulated more cxcl8/il8 chemokines, which attract neutrophils, the antiviral role of which is unfamiliar. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, by pointing out transcriptional differences between susceptible and resistant fish in response to CyHV-3 infection, this study unraveled possible genes and pathways that take part in disease resistance mechanisms in fish and thus, enhances our understanding of fish immunogenetics and supports the development of sustainable and safe aquaculture.