Abstract
Interferons (IFNs) play critical roles in the host defense against virus infection, and exhibit promising prospects for the prevention of viral diseases in aquaculture. Pufferfish is an important cultured fish in East Asia. However, the IFN genes haven’t been systematically analyzed in pufferfish until now. In this study, we identified three type I IFN genes (ToIFNd, ToIFNh and ToIFNc) and two type II IFN genes (ToIFNγ and ToIFNγrel) in obscure puffer, and compared their molecular characterizations and phylogenetic relationships. Then we revealed that the five IFN genes were constitutively expressed in all detected tissues with different tissue distribution patterns. Furthermore, the dynamic expression changes of the IFNs were analyzed after poly(I:C) stimulation, which implied that the IFNs played various roles in the antiviral responses of obscure puffer. Finally, we investigated the characteristic reactions and verified the key transcription factor binding sites of ToIFNd promoter, and analyzed the induction effects of ToIFNγ and ToIFNγrel. These results will be beneficial to understand the functional characteristics of IFNs in Takifugu.
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