Clam focal and systemic immune responses to QPX infection revealed by RNA-seq technology.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The hard clam Mercenaria mercenaria is an important seafood species widely exploited along the eastern coasts of the United States and play a crucial role in coastal ecology and economy. Severe hard clam mortalities have been associated with the protistan parasite QPX (Quahog Parasite Unknown). QPX infection establishes in pallial organs with the lesions typically characterized as nodules, which represent inflammatory masses formed by hemocyte infiltration and encapsulation of parasites. QPX infection is known to induce host changes on both the whole-organism level and at specific lesion areas, which imply systemic and focal defense responses, respectively. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying these alterations.

Results

RNA-seq was pe

SUBMITTER: Wang K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4769524 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature