Informace o publikaci
Diplostomum spathaceum infection inducing differential immune gene expression in sexual and gynogens of gibel carp (Carassius gibelio): parasites as potential mechanism facilitating the coexistence of two reproductive forms
| Autoři | |
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| Rok publikování | 2023 |
| Druh | Konferenční abstrakty |
| Fakulta / Pracoviště MU | |
| Citace | |
| Popis | Biological invasion by alien species is one of the major drivers of ecological changes and declination of biodiversity. The invasion success largely depends on the ability of invasive species to deal with the pathogens encountered in the new environment. Gibel carp is one of the successful invaders due to its rapid reproductive strategy achieved by gynogenesis. During the early invasion of aquatic habitats in the Czech Republic, gibel carp populations were mostly composed of triploid females with gynogenetic reproduction. Subsequently, mixed populations composed of sexual diploids and gynogenetic triploid females with very rare presence of triploid males and tetraploid individuals have been recorded. Differences in the effectiveness of the immune system and contrasting susceptibility to parasite infection may represent a potential mechanism facilitating the coexistence of asexual and sexual forms of gibel carp, thereby contributing to its invasive ability. To understand the mechanisms of the coexistence of two reproductive forms of gibel carp in nature, following the Red Queen hypothesis we investigated whether the most common genotype, expressed as gynogenetic genotype, is infected more by the parasites than sexual diploid form. We experimentally infected the gynogenetic triploid and sexual diploid gibel carp with the metacercariae of a digenean trematode Diplostomum spathaceum. The parasite intensity was significantly higher in the gynogenetic gibel carp compared to diploid counterpart. To elucidate the differences in the immune mechanisms between diploid and gynogenetic gibel carp against the metacercariae of the trematode, we analyzed the transcriptomic profiles of head kidney in these two groups of fish with respective controls using high-throughput RNA sequencing . In the sexual gibel carp, a total of 509 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 373 upregulated and 136 downregulated genes involved in 25 biological processes were identified, whilst 342 DEGs with 111 upregulated and 231 downregulated genes involved in 17 biological processes were identified in gynogenetic gibel carp. Several immunogenic pathways including TGF beta signaling, mTOR signaling, necroptosis, phagosome, cytokine cytokine receptor interaction and autophagy were identified using KEGG analyses. Seven genes were selected from the RNA-seq data and validated using quantitative PCR. A similar trend of expression between the RNA seq and qPCR data of these genes was observed. At the same time, we selected five immune genes based on the literature review and quantified. The differential expressions of these genes in infected sexual and gynogenetic gibel carp was revealed. We showed, for the first time, the changes of immune gene expression profile involved in digenean infections in gibel carp. The contribution of different immune gene expression was highlighted as a potential mechanism promoting the coexistence of sexual and asexual forms in nature. |
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