Genome-wide identification and analysis of chemokine receptor superfamily in miiuy croaker, Miichthys miiuy

Fish Shellfish Immunol. 2021 Nov:118:343-353. doi: 10.1016/j.fsi.2021.09.017. Epub 2021 Sep 21.

Abstract

The chemokine receptor (ChemR) superfamily, which is divided into 4 subfamilies (CXCR, CCR, XCR, and CX3CR), is the main receptors of chemokines in innate immune responses. In the current study, we have identified 27 ChemRs in miiuy croaker: 13 CCR genes, 11 CXCR genes, and 3 XCR genes. Multiple characteristics of these genes, including phylogeny, gene structures, conserved motifs, chromosome locations, evolutionary mechanism, and expression levels upon the bacterial challenge were analyzed. Gene structure and location analysis showed that all ChemR genes contain fewer introns (≤4) and they are unevenly distributed on the 12 chromosomes. And the XCR subfamily of miiuy croaker don't have the DRY motif of ChemR. Phylogenetic and synteny analysis showed that these genes experienced tandem and segmental duplication event in several species, and tandem duplication might be the main expansion way in miiuy croaker. The major ChemRs of each orthologous group in vertebrates were selected for molecular evolution analysis, the results of which indicated that compared with vertebrates, ChemRs of teleost fishes may have a relatively high evolutionary dynamic. In addition, a total of 21 positively selected codons were detected in vertebrate ChemRs under Model 8. RNA-Seq analysis and qRT-PCR verification demonstrated that CXCR3.2, CXCR5, and XCR1 genes were up-regulated significantly upon the Vibrio harveyi infection. These results provide valuable information for investigating the evolutionary relationships of chemokine receptor superfamily in miiuy croaker and laid the basis for further functional analysis.

Keywords: Chemokine receptor; Evolution; Expression; Gene duplication; Gene structure.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Fish Proteins / genetics
  • Perciformes* / genetics
  • Phylogeny
  • Receptors, Chemokine / genetics*
  • Vibrio Infections* / genetics
  • Vibrio Infections* / veterinary

Substances

  • Fish Proteins
  • Receptors, Chemokine