The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin-2 is a molecular host-associated cue for the salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis).

ABSTRACT: Chemical signals are a key element of host-parasite interactions. In marine ecosystems, obligate ectoparasites, such as sea lice, use chemical cues and other sensory signals to increase the probability of encountering a host and to identify appropriate hosts on which they depend to complete their life cycle. The chemical compounds that underlie host identification by the sea lice are not fully described or characterized. Here, we report a novel compound - the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin-2 (Cath-2) - that acts as an activation cue for the marine parasitic copepod Lepeophtheirus salmonis. L. salmonis were exposed to 0, 7, 70 and 700 ppb of Cath-2 and neural activity, swimming behaviour and gene expression profiles of animals in response to the peptide wer

SUBMITTER: Nunez-Acuna G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6137231 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature