title: Absence of major histocompatibility complex class II mediated immunity in pipefish, Syngnathus typhle: evidence from deep transcriptome sequencing.
abstract: The major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-mediated adaptive immune system is the hallmark of gnathostome immune defence. Recent work suggests that cod-like fishes (Gadidae) lack important components of the MHC class II mediated immunity. Here, we report a putative independent loss of functionality of this pathway in another species, the pipefish Syngnathus typhle, that belongs to a distantly related fish family (Syngnathidae). In a deep transcriptome sequencing approach comprising several independent normalized and non-normalized expressed sequence tag (EST) libraries with approximately 7.5 × 10(8) reads, sequenced with two next generation platforms (454 and Illumina), we were unable to identify MHC class IIα/β genes as well as genes encoding associated receptors. Along with the recent findings in cod, our results suggest that immune systems of the Euteleosts may be more variable than previously assumed.
authors: Evolutionary Ecology of Marine Fishes, Helmholtz-Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR), 24105 Kiel, Germany.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Haase
authors: Olivia
authors: O
authors: Roth
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Kalbe
authors: Gisela
authors: G
authors: Schmiedeskamp
authors: Jörn P
authors: JP
authors: Scharsack
authors: Philip
authors: P
authors: Rosenstiel
authors: Thorsten B H
authors: TB
authors: Reusch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D019295:Computational Biology; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D005399:Fishes / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015723:Gene Library; D005802:Genes, MHC Class II; D005880:Gills / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D013045:Species Specificity; D059467:Transcriptome; D014733:Vibrio / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014735:Vibrio Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*