Mapping rainbow trout immune genes involved in inflammation reveals conserved blocks of immune genes in teleosts

Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) Genes and Disease Resistance in Fish

Fascinating about classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules is their polymorphism. The present study is a review and discussion of the fish MHC situation. The basic pattern of MHC variation in fish is similar to mammals, with MHC class I versus class II, and polymorphic classical versus nonpolymorphic nonclassical. However, in many or all teleost fishes, important differences with mammalian or human MHC were observed: (1) The allelic/haplotype diversification levels of classical MHC class I tend to be much higher than in mammals and involve structural positions within but also outside the peptide binding groove; (2) Teleost fish classical MHC class I and class II loci are not linked. The present article summarizes previous studies that performed quantitative trait loci (QTL) analysis for mapping differences in teleost fish disease resistance, and discusses them from MHC point of view. Overall, those QTL studies suggest the possible importance of genomic regions including classical MHC class II and nonclassical MHC class I genes, whereas similar observations were not made for the genomic regions with the highly diversified classical MHC class I alleles. It must be concluded that despite decades of knowing MHC polymorphism in jawed vertebrate species including fish, firm conclusions (as opposed to appealing hypotheses) on the reasons for MHC polymorphism cannot be made, and that the types of polymorphism observed in fish may not be explained by disease-resistance models alone.

A genome-wide association study in catfish reveals the presence of functional hubs of related genes within QTLs for columnaris disease resistance

Background

Columnaris causes severe mortalities among many different wild and cultured freshwater fish species, but understanding of host resistance is lacking. Catfish, the primary aquaculture species in the United States, serves as a great model for the analysis of host resistance against columnaris disease. Channel catfish in general is highly resistant to the disease while blue catfish is highly susceptible. F2 generation of hybrids can be produced where phenotypes and genotypes are segregating, providing a useful system for QTL analysis. To identify genes associated with columnaris resistance, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using the catfish 250 K SNP array with 340 backcross progenies derived from crossing female channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) with male F1 hybrid catfish (female channel catfish I. punctatus × male blue catfish I. furcatus).

Results

A genomic region on linkage group 7 was found to be significantly associated with columnaris resistance. Within this region, five have known functions in immunity, including pik3r3b, cyld-like, adcyap1r1, adcyap1r1-like, and mast2. In addition, 3 additional suggestively associated QTL regions were identified on linkage groups 7, 12, and 14. The resistant genotypes on the QTLs of linkage groups 7 and 12 were found to be homozygous with both alleles being derived from channel catfish. The paralogs of the candidate genes in the suggestively associated QTL of linkage group 12 were found on the QTLs of linkage group 7. Many candidate genes on the four associated regions are involved in PI3K pathway that is known to be required by many bacteria for efficient entry into the host.

Conclusion

The GWAS revealed four QTLs associated with columnaris resistance in catfish. Strikingly, the candidate genes may be arranged as functional hubs; the candidate genes within the associated QTLs on linkage groups 7 and 12 are not only co-localized, but also functionally related, with many of them being involved in the PI3K signal transduction pathway, suggesting its importance for columnaris resistance.

Association mapping of disease resistance traits in rainbow trout using restriction site associated DNA sequencing

Recent advances in genotyping-by-sequencing have enabled genome-wide association studies in nonmodel species including those in aquaculture programs. As with other aquaculture species, rainbow trout and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are susceptible to disease and outbreaks can lead to significant losses. Fish culturists have therefore been pursuing strategies to prevent losses to common pathogens such as Flavobacterium psychrophilum (the etiological agent for bacterial cold water disease [CWD]) and infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) by adjusting feed formulations, vaccine development, and selective breeding. However, discovery of genetic markers linked to disease resistance offers the potential to use marker-assisted selection to increase resistance and reduce outbreaks. For this study we sampled juvenile fish from 40 families from 2-yr classes that either survived or died after controlled exposure to either CWD or IHNV. Restriction site−associated DNA sequencing produced 4661 polymorphic single-nucleotide polymorphism loci after strict filtering. Genotypes from individual survivors and mortalities were then used to test for association between disease resistance and genotype at each locus using the program TASSEL. After we accounted for kinship and stratification of the samples, tests revealed 12 single-nucleotide polymorphism markers that were highly associated with resistance to CWD and 19 markers associated with resistance to IHNV. These markers are candidates for further investigation and are expected to be useful for marker assisted selection in future broodstock selection for various aquaculture programs.

Assessment of genetic correlation between bacterial cold water disease resistance and spleen index in a domesticated population of rainbow trout: identification of QTL on chromosome Omy19

Selective breeding of animals for increased disease resistance is an effective strategy to reduce mortality in aquaculture. However, implementation of selective breeding programs is limited by an incomplete understanding of host resistance traits. We previously reported results of a rainbow trout selection program that demonstrated increased survival following challenge with Flavobacterium psychrophilum, the causative agent of bacterial cold water disease (BCWD). Mechanistic study of disease resistance identified a positive phenotypic correlation between post-challenge survival and spleen somatic-index (SI). Herein, we investigated the hypothesis of a genetic correlation between the two traits influenced by colocalizing QTL. We evaluated the inheritance and calculated the genetic correlation in five year-classes of odd- and even-year breeding lines. A total of 322 pedigreed families (n = 25,369 fish) were measured for disease resistance, and 251 families (n = 5,645 fish) were evaluated for SI. Spleen index was moderately heritable in both even-year (h(2)  = 0.56±0.18) and odd-year (h(2)  = 0.60±0.15) lines. A significant genetic correlation between SI and BCWD resistance was observed in the even-year line (rg  = 0.45±0.20, P = 0.03) but not in the odd-year line (rg  = 0.16±0.12, P = 0.19). Complex segregation analyses of the even-year line provided evidence of genes with major effect on SI, and a genome scan of a single family, 2008132, detected three significant QTL on chromosomes Omy19, 16 and 5, in addition to ten suggestive QTL. A separate chromosome scan for disease resistance in family 2008132 identified a significant BCWD QTL on Omy19 that was associated with time to death and percent survival. In family 2008132, Omy19 microsatellite alleles that associated with higher disease resistance also associated with increased spleen size raising the hypothesis that closely linked QTL contribute to the correlation between these traits. To our knowledge, this is the first estimation of spleen size heritability and evidence for genetic linkage with specific disease resistance in a teleost fish.