Major histocompatibility complex class II antigens are important in vertebrate immune system.In the present study,the full cDNA sequence of class II A gene was synthesized by RACE-PCR from half-smooth tongue sole(Cynoglossus semilaevis),and its open reading frame(ORF) polymorphism was studied.The whole cDNA sequence was 992 bp in length,including the ORF with 717 bp.Twenty-five alleles were identified and clustered into two distinct groups according to the specific nucleotides/amino acids in specific positions.Eleven alleles belonged to Cyse-DAA while fourteen alleles belonged to Cyse-DBA.Four Cyse-DAA alleles were observed in one individual,and three to five Cyse-DBA alleles were observed in each of the three detected individuals,which indicated that at least two loci existed in each gene.Moreover,in order to study the function of the alleles in resistance to infection,200 individuals were intraperitoneally injected with Vibrio anguillarum and the first 20 dead individuals and 20 surviving ones were selected for genotype analysis.Fifty-six alleles were identified among the 40 individuals.Twenty-nine alleles belonged to Cyse-DAA and the other 27 alleles belonged to Cyse-DBA.Eighteen alleles were selected for studying their function in resistance to infection.Alleles Cyse-DAA*0201,Cyse-DAA*1101,Cyse-DBA*0401,Cyse-DBA*1102,Cyse-DBA*1801 and Cyse-DBA*2201 were identi-fied only in surviving individuals,while alleles Cyse-DAA*0901,Cyse-DBA*1101 and Cyse-DBA*1401 occurred more frequently in dead individuals.This study confirmed the existence and polymorphism of two class II A genes as well as the relationship between alleles of class II A genes and disease susceptibility/resistance in half-smooth tongue sole.
LI ChunmeiWANG XuboZHANG QuanqiWANG ZhigangQI JieYI QilinLIU ZhipengWANG YananYU Haiyang
Major histocompatibility complex （MHC） class II B molecules play an important role in the adaptive immune response in fish. Previous study has reported that two highly polymorphic class II B genes, Cyse-DAB and Cyse-DBB exist in half-smooth tongue sole （Cynoglossus semilaevis）. In this study, the polymorphism within exon 2 of the class II B genes following bacterial challenge was evaluated. Two hundred C. semilaevis individuals were injected intraperitoneally with Vibrio anguillarum. Muscle tissue from the first 20 dead and 20 of the survivors was collected for genotyping. Sixty alleles from the 40 individuals were isolated, of which 32 belonged to Cyse-DAB and 28 belonged to Cyse-DBB. The rate of dN （non-synonymous substitution） was higher than that of ds （synonymous substitution） in the PBRs （peptide binding residues） of both class I1 B genes. Conversely, the rate of ds was higher than dy in the non-PBRs and the complete exon 2 sequence. Thus, the results suggest that positive selection has occurred in the PBRs and purifying selection in the non-PBRs and exon 2. Thirteen class II B alleles were used to study the association between alleles and resistance to infection. Though not significant, alleles Cyse-DAB＊ 0601, Cyse-DAB ＊ 0706, and Cyse-DBB＊O 101, Cyse-DBB＊ 1301 were only found in surviving individuals and may represent alleles that have resistance against V. anguillarum infection. Alleles Cyse-DAB＊0701 and Cyse-DAB＊1301 were significantly more prevalent in dead individuals than in surviving ones and may represent alleles that are associated with increased susceptibility to V. anguillarum infection.
