Transcriptome differences between susceptible and resistant fish
RNA sequencing was conducted on samples of spleen RNA pooled from three fish each. Such pools were constructed from three susceptible (S) and three resistant (R) families at two timepoints: pre-infection (day 0), and four days post infection (day 4). In a clustering analysis, based on normalized read counts of differentially expressed genes (DEGs), the three replicates of susceptible families were highly correlated among themselves and so were the three replicates of resistant families, thus, attesting to the high reproducibility of the data (Fig 1A). Furthermore, higher correlations (red color) were found within fish types (susceptible or resistant) than within timepoints (pre- or post-infection), demonstrating the many transcriptional differences between these fish types, even without the infection (Fig 1A). In the four comparisons between pairs of treatments (R0/S0, S4/R4, S4/S0 and R4/S4) a total of 2,369 DEGs were found. Relatively little overlap of DEGs between the four comparisons indicated that transcriptomes of the four treatments were considerably distinct (Fig 1B). For instance, only three genes were shared among all four comparisons, while 1,704 (72%) were comparison-specific. The largest overlap (435 DEGs) was found between S0/R0 and S4/R4, which represented fish-type differences regardless of the disease infection. The overlap between fish-types in response to infection (S4/S0 ∩ R4/R0) included only 69 DEGs.
Each of the four comparisons identified both up- and down-regulated genes relative to a reference treatment (the denominator of each comparison), all with a wide distribution of normalized read counts (Fig 2A). Some genes (n = 737) were more highly expressed in susceptible fish (Fig 2B), whereas other genes (n = 990) in resistant ones (Fig 2C). Only about ¼ of these genes (202/737 for susceptible and 258/990 for resistant) were shared between days 0 and 4, indicating that the transcriptional differences between fish types changed considerably in response to infection. These changes in expression between days 0 and 4 are reflecting the response to infection, and this response differed considerably between susceptible and resistant fish in two aspects. First, many more genes were differentially expressed in susceptible (n = 686) than in resistant (n = 199) fish. This broader response of susceptible fish applies to both up- and down-regulated genes (Fig 2D and E). Second, there was little overlap in the set of DEGs between susceptible and resistant fish. Only 9.3% (n=55) and 6.3% (n=14) of the up- and down-regulated DEGs, respectively, were shared between these fish types (Fig 2D and E). Therefore, in addition to baseline differences due to their different genetic background, these fish types had elicited a distinctive transcriptional response to CyHV-3 infection.
GO terms enriched with DEGs in response to infection
The response to CyHV-3 infection is represented by the transcriptional differences elicited after infection and thus, gene ontologies (GO) of up-regulated gene lists between days 0 and 4 were studied (Fig 2D). In the list of 55 genes shared between susceptible and resistant fish, the only significantly enriched GO term was ‘response to stress’ (GO:0006950), which reflects the general response of the fish to the challenge conditions. The lists of 68 and 471 DEGs specific to the response of resistant and susceptible fish, respectively, were both enriched in up-regulated DEGs belonging to immunity-related GO terms (Fig 3A). For susceptible fish, the most enriched term was ‘response to virus’ (GO:0009615) with 20 DEGs in carp that correspond to nine genes out of 48 included in this term based on the ZF annotation. The majority of these DEGs were interferons (IFNs) and interferon stimulated genes (ISGs). Another highly enriched term for susceptible fish was ‘chemokine-mediated signaling pathway’ (GO:0070098), with 11 DEGs in carp that correspond to seven out of 51 included in this term based on the ZF annotation (see Table 1 for a gene list of susceptible fish DEGs included in these terms). Other less enriched terms, including some not directly related to immune response, were also found for susceptible fish (Fig 3A).
Table 1. Carp genes (cypCars) in the top enriched GO terms in susceptible fish
GO term
|
cypCar ID
|
Description (Blast2GO)
|
Gene name
|
ZF Ensembl ID
|
response to virus (GO:0009615)
|
cypCar_00007337
|
interferon regulatory factor 7
|
irf7
|
ENSDARG00000045661
|
cypCar_00033848
|
interferon regulatory factor 3-like isoform X1
|
irf7
|
ENSDARG00000045661
|
cypCar_00023289
|
interferon-induced with tetratricopeptide repeats 1-like
|
ifit8
|
ENSDARG00000057173
|
cypCar_00009225
|
interferon-induced with tetratricopeptide repeats 1-like
|
ifit8
|
ENSDARG00000057173
|
cypCar_00036002
|
|
eif2ak2
|
ENSDARG00000068729
|
cypCar_00046009
|
dsRNA-activated kinase R
|
eif2ak2
|
ENSDARG00000068729
|
cypCar_00039221
|
interferon- double-stranded RNA-activated kinase-like
|
eif2ak2
|
ENSDARG00000068729
|
cypCar_00048805
|
Z-DNA binding kinase
|
Pkz
|
ENSDARG00000052396
|
cypCar_00042977
|
Z-DNA binding kinase
|
Pkz
|
ENSDARG00000052396
|
cypCar_00042978
|
Z-DNA binding kinase
|
Pkz
|
ENSDARG00000052396
|
cypCar_00047118
|
tumor necrosis factor-like
|
Tnfa
|
ENSDARG00000009511
|
cypCar_00000963
|
interferon-induced with tetratricopeptide repeats 5-like
|
ifit10
|
ENSDARG00000007467
|
cypCar_00024055
|
radical S-adenosyl methionine domain-containing 2
|
rsad2
|
ENSDARG00000004952
|
cypCar_00043425
|
|
rsad2
|
ENSDARG00000004952
|
cypCar_00017679
|
interferon-induced GTP-binding Mx-like
|
Mxe
|
ENSDARG00000014427
|
cypCar_00021056
|
lymphocyte antigen 86-like
|
ly86
|
ENSDARG00000090649
|
cypCar_00005064
|
interferon gamma
|
ifng1-2
|
ENSDARG00000024211
|
cypCar_00017692
|
interferon gamma
|
ifng1-2
|
ENSDARG00000024211
|
cypCar_00000964
|
|
ifit11
|
ENSDARG00000090537
|
cypCar_00039376
|
interferon-induced with tetratricopeptide repeats 5-like
|
ifit11
|
ENSDARG00000090537
|
chemokine mediated signaling pathway (GO:0070098)
|
cypCar_00036407
|
CC motif chemokine 19-like
|
PP2A3
|
ENSDARG00000039351
|
cypCar_00047570
|
interleukin-8-like
|
il8l1
|
ENSDARG00000102299
|
cypCar_00000120
|
|
cxcl18b
|
ENSDARG00000075045
|
cypCar_00002590
|
CXC motif chemokine 11-like
|
cxcl18b
|
ENSDARG00000075045
|
cypCar_00037175
|
CXC motif chemokine 11-like
|
cxcl11.7
|
ENSDARG00000093779
|
cypCar_00026312
|
CXC motif chemokine 11-like
|
cxcl11.7
|
ENSDARG00000093779
|
cypCar_00023173
|
CXC motif chemokine 10-like
|
cxcl20
|
ENSDARG00000075163
|
cypCar_00019885
|
CC motif chemokine 19-like
|
ccl19a.1
|
ENSDARG00000058389
|
cypCar_00026229
|
|
ccl19a.1
|
ENSDARG00000058389
|
cypCar_00019886
|
CC motif chemokine 19-like
|
ccl19a.2
|
ENSDARG00000035632
|
cypCar_00026228
|
CC motif chemokine 19-like
|
ccl19a.2
|
ENSDARG00000035632
|
Much fewer up-regulated DEGs were found in resistant fish, resulting in only three significantly enriched GO terms, all of which were immune response related (Fig 3A). These three terms were enriched also for susceptible fish, but, since tests were done on non-overlapping gene lists, these common terms were found to be enriched due to different genes, hence also their fold enrichment and test significance were different. For resistant fish, the highest fold enrichment was for ‘leukocyte migration’ (GO:0050900) with five carp genes that correspond to four out of 90 included in this term based on the ZF annotation. For susceptible fish, a lower fold enrichment of this term was found based on twelve carp genes that overlapped with those in the ‘chemokine-mediated signaling pathway’ term (GO:0070098).
Because ‘leukocyte migration’ was enriched in both fish types, we analyzed in more detail all DEGs in this term, including five DEGs specific to resistant, twelve to susceptible, and six shared by both (see Table 2 for a detailed gene list). Sixteen out of these 23 DEGs were chemokine genes, including six CC and ten CXC types. Susceptible and resistant fish were different both in how many chemokines were up-regulated and also in which types. Of the six CC chemokines, the five which were up-regulated in susceptible fish were ccl19 homologs and the one in resistant fish was a different chemokine, ccl35 (Fig 3B). Of the ten CXC chemokines, two homologs of cxcl11, two of cxcl18, one of cxcl20 and one of cxcl8, also known as interleukin-8 (il8), were up-regulated in susceptible fish, whereas in resistant fish, three homologs of cxcl8/il8 were up-regulated in response to infection. In addition, one homolog of cxcl20 was up-regulated in both fish types (Fig 3C). Of the seven non-chemokine genes in this GO term, five were up-regulated in both susceptible and resistant fish (Fig 3D). Altogether, these data provide further details on the general as well as specific immune responses, differentiating resistant from susceptible fish. While susceptible fish mounted a broad response with clear signals of a viral infection, the response of resistant fish was associated with a specific chemokine-mediated, white blood cells migration response.
Table 2. Up-regulated DEGs included in the ‘leukocyte migration’ GO term
up-regulated in:
|
cypCar ID
|
Description (B2G)
|
Gene name
|
ZF Ensembl ID
|
Susceptible
|
cypCar_00000120
|
|
cxcl18b
|
ENSDARG00000075045
|
|
cypCar_00002590
|
CXC motif chemokine 11-like
|
cxcl18b
|
ENSDARG00000075045
|
|
cypCar_00013171
|
matrix metallo ase-9
|
mmp9
|
ENSDARG00000042816
|
|
cypCar_00019885
|
CC motif chemokine 19-like
|
ccl19a.1
|
ENSDARG00000058389
|
|
cypCar_00019886
|
CC motif chemokine 19-like
|
ccl19a.2
|
ENSDARG00000035632
|
|
cypCar_00023173
|
CXC motif chemokine 10-like
|
cxcl20
|
ENSDARG00000075163
|
|
cypCar_00026228
|
CC motif chemokine 19-like
|
ccl19a.2
|
ENSDARG00000035632
|
|
cypCar_00026229
|
|
ccl19a.1
|
ENSDARG00000058389
|
|
cypCar_00026312
|
CXC motif chemokine 11-like
|
cxcl11.7
|
ENSDARG00000093779
|
|
cypCar_00036407
|
CC motif chemokine 19-like
|
ccl19b
|
ENSDARG00000039351
|
|
cypCar_00037175
|
CXC motif chemokine 11-like
|
cxcl11.7
|
ENSDARG00000093779
|
|
cypCar_00047570
|
interleukin-8-like
|
cxcl8
|
ENSDARG00000102299
|
Resistant
|
cypCar_00004594
|
collagenase 3-like
|
mmp13a
|
ENSDARG00000012395
|
|
cypCar_00016657
|
interleukin 8
|
cxcl8
|
ENSDARG00000102776
|
|
cypCar_00045160
|
tumor-induced factor
|
cxcl8
|
ENSDARG00000102299
|
|
cypCar_00047710
|
monocyte chemotactic 1B-like
|
ccl35.2
|
ENSDARG00000070378
|
|
cypCar_00049368
|
interleukin-8-like
|
cxcl8
|
ENSDARG00000102299
|
Both
|
cypCar_00031344
|
collagenase 3-like
|
mmp13a
|
ENSDARG00000012395
|
|
cypCar_00049037
|
|
mmp13a
|
ENSDARG00000012395
|
|
cypCar_00037171
|
CXC motif chemokine 10-like
|
cxcl20
|
ENSDARG00000075163
|
|
cypCar_00036204
|
serum amyloid A
|
Saa
|
ENSDARG00000045999
|
|
cypCar_00042470
|
cholesterol 25-hydroxylase
|
ch25h
|
ENSDARG00000045190
|
|
cypCar_00000962
|
cholesterol 25-hydroxylase
|
ch25h
|
ENSDARG00000045190
|
Expression pattern of duplicated chemokine genes
Chemokines form a large gene family with several homologs for many of the different family members in genomes of bony-fishes. Since the common carp is a tetraploid species, two paralogous copies are often found in its genome per every ortholog in the genome of its closely related species, the diploid ZF. Since carp genes are annotated mostly after their homologs in ZF, in the case of gene families such as chemokines, separate carp genes (cypCars) are annotated with the same ZF gene name. To better understand the possible contribution of chemokine homologs and of carp-specific paralogs to resistance, the phylogenetic relationships between cypCar chemokines were studied. For all chemokines that one or more of their copies were found to be DEGs, DNA sequences of their transcripts from carp were extracted along with their orthologs in ZF and in red-bellied piranha as an outgroup. Sequences were aligned to construct a phylogenetic tree (Fig 4A). Based on how the evolutionary relationships among cypCars were resolved by the phylogenetic tree, differences in expression levels between carp copies within a gene clade were studied at three levels.
First, the proportion of DEGs out of the total gene copies was examined. Interestingly, different chemokine types had different proportions of their homologs changing expression in response to infection. For instance, 5/6 ccl19 homologs, 2/2 cxcl18 and 2/2 cxcl20 were DEGs. Conversely, only 1/4 ccl35 and 2/7 cxcl11 homologs were DEGs. Among the largest family, cxcl8/il8, 4/10 homologs were DEGs (Fig 4A). Thus, different chemokine families showed different levels of expression divergence among their members.
Secondly, the specific expression differences of all ccl19 and cxcl8/il8 homologs in carp were tested using their normalized read counts. Significant differences in expression levels between genes within the ccl19 and cxcl8/il8 gene clades were found (all pairs Tukey-Kramer HSD, P < 0.05, Fig 4B). Among ccl19 homologs, four had a similar and very low expression level compared to two other homologs with significantly higher expression. Among cxcl8/il8 homologs, expression levels were diverse, ranging from nearly zero to almost 1,000 normalized read count. Thus, different chemokines diversified to a different extent in the expression of their homologs.
In summary, using a phylogentic approach to guide the expression analysis, differences in response to infection were revealed among homologs of certain chemokines and even some functional divergence between carp-specific paralogs. Some of these transcriptional differences in homologs and paralogs were DEGs between susceptible and resistant fish.
DEGs within previously identified QTLs
In our previous study, two novel quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified based on association of markers with CyHV-3 survival and gene lists within QTL boundaries were extracted [35]. Identifying DEGs within these QTLs can aid highlighting candidate genes affecting survival. Therefore, for these QTL DEGs, the level of expression change [Log2(fold-change)] was plotted against their genomic position in the QTL. As a reference, the significance [Log10(p- value)] of the test for association of markers with survival was also plotted against their genomic position (Fig 5). From a few hundreds of genes located within the boundaries of each QTL1 and QTL2 intervals, 52 and 53 genes, respectively, were DEGs (Additional file 1: Table S1). For both QTLs, the distribution of DEGs along the QTL interval was more or less even. Also, no correlation appeared between the level of expression change and the significance of QTL marker association with survival. Therefore, neither the genomic position within the QTL nor the expression level could further help pointing out DEGs, which could be more important for CyHV-3 survival. However, what could help marking more promising candidate survival genes was that among these QTL DEGs, some were immune related genes. Inside QTL1 (Fig 5A), a ccl20 homolog (cypCar_00050111) was more highly expressed in susceptible than in resistant fish at day 4. Additionally, inside QTL1, a cluster of DEGs annotated as fish specific tripartite motif-containing (TRIM) genes (finTRIMs – ftr) are present. Inside QTL2 (Fig 5B), a vitronectin b (vtnb) homolog (cypCar_00038793) was more highly expressed in resistant than in susceptible fish at day 0 and a Toll-like receptor-22 (tlr22) homolog (cypCar_00023948) was up-regulated at day4 in resistant fish. Outside these QTLs, the previously identified candidate gene for survival, Interleukin-10a (il10a) [33, 35], was more highly expressed in susceptible than in resistant fish at day 4 (Additional file 1: Table S1). The expression of Interleukin-10b (il10b), the paralog of il10a, was induced by the infection, but similarly in susceptible and resistant fish. Overall, combining data of QTL mapping with differential expression and functional annotation helped pointing out the more promising candidate CyHV-3 survival genes among all QTL genes.
Comparing the temporal response to infection
Since RNA-Seq was applied to susceptible and resistant fish only at day 4 post infection, it was interesting to study if susceptible and resistant fish elicited different responses or maybe similar responses but with different kinetics. Representative genes from the main identified immune pathways were chosen for RT-qPCR analysis in additional time points (day 2 and 8 post infection). Each of the selected genes was up-regulated in response to CyHV-3 infection in one of the fish types based on the RNA-Seq analysis. Representing the ‘response to virus’ (GO:0009615) GO term, which was the most enriched one in susceptible fish, two ISGs were chosen: cypCar_00024055 [Radical S-adenosyl methionine domain containing 2 (rsad2) also known as Viperin-2 (vip2)] and cypCar_00017679 [Myxovirus resistance E (mxe)]. Based on the RNA-Seq data, both genes were up-regulated DEGs at day 4 in susceptible, but not in resistant fish. In the RT-qPCR analysis, no induction was observed at day 2, whereas at day 8 the genes were equally induced in both susceptible and resistant fish (Fig 6A and B). Thus, also in resistant fish ISGs are up-regulated in response to infection, but apparently at a later stage and not as part of the early induced immune response.
Three genes were chosen to represent the GO term ‘leukocyte migration’ (GO:0050900), which was the most enriched one in resistant fish and was also enriched in susceptible fish. One ccl19a.1 copy (cypCar_19885) to represent the main up-regulated CC chemokine in susceptible fish and two cxcl8/il8 copies (cypCar_47570 and cypCar_45160) to represent the main up-regulated CXC chemokine in resistant fish. In the RNA-Seq analysis, cypCar_19885 (ccl19a.1) and cypCar_47570 (cxcl8/il8) were up-regulated DEGs at day 4 in susceptible, but not in resistant fish. In the RT-qPCR analysis, no induction was observed at day 2, whereas at day 8 the genes were equally induced in both susceptible and resistant fish (Fig 6C and D). However, cypCar_45160 (cxcl8/il8) that was up-regulated at day 4 in resistant, but not in susceptible fish, was not induced at all at day 2, and at day 8 it was still induced in resistant but not in susceptible fish (Fig 6E). Thus, analysis of representative chemokine genes at further timepoints indicated that genes, which were induced at day 4 in susceptible fish, were induced also in resistant fish but at a later infection stage. In contrast, the gene that was up-regulated at day 4 only in resistant fish, was not induced in susceptible fish at the selected time points. Taken together, the results suggested both qualitative and temporal differences between fish types in response to infection.