Publication details
Gyrodactylus PARASITES INDUCING DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION OF IMMUNITY-ASSOCIATED GENES IN SEXUAL AND GYNOGENETIC FORMS OF FRESHWATER INVASIVE GIBEL CARP (Carassius gibelio)
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| Year of publication | 2025 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Parasite-mediated selection is considered one of the potential mechanisms contributing to the coexistence of asexual-sexual complexes in nature. Gibel carp (Carassius gibelio), is an invasive cyprinid fish species in Europe. Asexual form (gynogenetic triploid females) and sexual form often coexist in the same populations, multiple mechanisms have been hypothesized to explain this coexistence. The gynogenetic and sexual specimens originated from artificial breeding were used for experimental infection by monogeneans. Among monogenean parasites infecting gibel carp, Gyrodactylus longoacuminatus was the dominant species identified on the skin, fin and gills. The transcriptome profile of the spleen was analyzed to reveal the differentially expressed immunity-associated genes related to monogenean infection. The high G. longoacuminatus was reported in both gynogenetic and sexual forms. The higher variability in parasite load was reported in sexual specimens when compared to gynogenetic females. Sexual specimens were more infected by gyrodactylids on the body surface, whilst no difference in Gyrodactylus load on fins between sexual and gynogenetic gibel carp was found. More than 30 GO terms related to immunity were identified. Similar GO terms related to immunity were significantly enriched in infected fish compared to non-infected ones in both sexual and gynogenetic gibel carp. We identified more than 90 immune genes using interaction model (interaction between fish group and treatment), and we inferred the differences in the differential gene expression between sexual and gynogenetic specimens, suggesting that molecular mechanisms associated with immunity potentially contribute to the coexistence of sexual and gynogenetic gibel carp. |
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