CLONING AND EXPRESSION ANALYSIS OF MX CDNA FROM SENEGALESE SOLE (SOLEA SENEGALENSIS)

Senegal sole, Solea senegalensis, is a promising species of growing interest in European aquaculture. In this industry, viral infections are a constant threat, therefore understanding fish defence mechanisms against such pathogens is of high interest. Mx proteins are induced by type I interferon (α and ß) and due to the lack of fish interferon information, the study of fish Mx proteins is essential to understand innate viral defence mechanisms in these species. In this study, a full-length sole Mx cDNA has been RT-PCR cloned, resulting in 2322 bp coding for 623 aminoacids. The sequence obtained accounts for all the main characteristics of Mx proteins and shows 80,1% identity with flounder and 78,9% with halibut. The Senegal sole Mx spatial and temporal expression pattern in healthy and challenged fish has been analyzed by RT-PCR. A constitutive level of sole Mx expression has been obtained in healthy fish that did not change after PBS injection. In contrast, a clear induction was observed in fish treated with polyI:C and infected with IPNV. This knowledge will be useful in designing future strategies to enhance virus resistance in the culture of this species.