Project description:Streptococcal disease results in major mortality events of both marine and freshwater fishes worldwide. Streptococcus iniae is among the prominent causative bacterial strains as it has been found to cause a higher incidence of mortality and act as a zoonotic pathogen. Here we examine the susceptibility of two important aquaculture species in the United States, striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and white bass (Morone chrysops), to S. iniae. A high incidence of mortality was observed in both species, although striped bass succumbed more rapidly than white bass. Spleen gene expression at three time points following infection was analyzed to further elucidate the mechanisms underlying these observations. The down-regulation of gene transcripts associated with pathogen detection (tlr1, tlr8, tlr9), antigen processing (cd74a), immune cell recruitment and migration (ccl44, ccr6b, ccr7), macrophage function (csf1ra), T-cell signaling and NF-kB activation (card11, fyna, tirap) was detected in both species. These findings potentially indicate impairment in these critical early immune system processes such that both species were ultimately highly susceptible to S. iniae infection despite the detected up-regulation of transcripts typically associated with effective immune response, such as cytokines (il1β, il8, il12b2, il17rc, tnfb) and hepcidins (hamp, hamp2). The presented results collectively identify several candidate genes and associated pathways for further investigation to characterize the vulnerability of striped bass and white bass to S. iniae and that may be considered for selective breeding efforts, biotechnological intervention, and/or exploitation in the development of vaccines and alternative treatments.
Project description:Columnaris disease is a prevalent disease in freshwater environments worldwide caused by the ubiquitous aquatic bacterium Flavobacterium species. Adhesion to the external mucosal surfaces of fishes is the initial stage of infection, and the gills specifically have been identified as both a primary target and release site for this pathogen. Previous research has indicated that a predominant US aquaculture product, the hybrid striped bass (Morone chrysops x M. saxatilis), is more susceptible to infection with Flavobacterium columnare (covae) than the maternal white bass (M. chrysops) parental species. Therefore, to further elucidate the differences between these fish we conducted a transcriptomic profiling study examining the differences of gene expression in gill mucosal tissue over time after exposure to F. covae isolate LSU-066-04. Combined with previous work, these data provide a greater understanding of host immune response to a common pathogen in moronids.
Project description:Natural selection often produces parallel phenotypic changes in response to a similar adaptive challenge. However, the extent to which parallel gene expression differences and genomic divergence underlie parallel phenotypic traits and whether they are decoupled or not remains largely unexplored. We performed a population genomic study of parallel local adaptation among replicate ecotype pairs of the rough periwinkle (Littorina saxatilis) at a regional geographical scale (NW Spain). We show that phenotypic divergence followed complex evolutionary paths, affecting multiple loci, and including the parallel recruitment of the same genes as well as completely different genes in distinct ecotype pairs. The majority of divergent genes were divergent either for gene expression or coding sequence, but not for both simultaneously, providing evidence for a decoupled evolution among regulatory and coding regions. Overall, our findings suggest that gene expression and coding sequences may evolve independently as a result of being distinctly targeted by evolutionary constraints, and that divergent selection significantly contributed to the process of molecular differentiation among ecotype pairs.