Similarity Analysis of the Immune-Related Genes from Chinese Sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) and Dabry's Sturgeon (Acipenser dabryanus)

Immune-related genes are well-established positive modulators that regulate a variety of signaling pathways in cells and tissues. However, no information is available concerning the similarity of immune-related genes between Dabry's sturgeon (Acipenser dabryanus) and Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis). A previous study showed that Dabry's sturgeon is seldom affected by infectious diseases, while Chinese sturgeon frequently dies from a variety of diseases. In the present study, de novo sequencing was used to obtain abundant high-quality gene information and investigate differentially expressed genes between Dabry's sturgeon and Chinese sturgeon. Protein similarity analysis indicated that 96 immune-related genes with complete cDNA sequences were obtained from the transcriptome library of Chinese sturgeon and Dabry's sturgeon. The similarity of these immune-related genes was further classified into three groups: 100% (16 genes, 16.7%), 98-99.9% (55 genes, 57.3%), and 80-97% (25 genes, 26%). These immunity genes were further classified into five signaling pathway, including complement and coagulation cascade, the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, NODlike receptor signaling pathway, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, and RIG-I-like receptor signaling pathway. Most immune-related genes studied here belong to the pathway of complement and coagulation. Collectively, the research demonstrated that similarity analysis of immune-related genes in signaling pathways might provide valuable theoretical resources to understanding the mechanism of disease susceptibility in Chinese sturgeon and Dabry's sturgeon.