Identification of marker genes for immune-related tissues in the Siberian sturgeon Acipenser baerii using transcriptomic analysis

Abstract

Immune marker genes define as genes that are highly expressed in an immune cell, tissue, and/or organ type but are lowly expressed in other organ types. These genes are key to the analysis of RNA transcription data, which make them good candidates for subsequent in-depth immunological experimental studies and developing support systems for immunological diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring. However, little is known about immune marker genes that contribute to distinct tissue types associated with immune responses in fish. In this study, we performed transcriptome analysis to identify immune marker genes for each of the kidney, liver and spleen in the Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) that phylogenetically occupies the most basal position below the teleost clade in ray-finned fish. The top 3 immune marker genes were chosen in each tissue i.e. Kidney, liver and spleen. The parameter for choosing the immune marker genes was based on TPM (Transcripts per million) value > 100 and a log difference of ≥5 between each tissue (Kidney, Liver and Spleen). Based on the chosen parameters we identified that in the kidney CTRP9, LRRC19 and PRG3, in the liver C1S, C8A, and C3A and in the spleen CCL25, CCL19 and MAFA genes were the top3 highly specific immune marker genes present in siberian sturgeon