An “immunome” gene panel for transcriptomic analysis of immune defence activities in the teleost sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.): a review

Abstract

Teleost fish are the oldest living vertebrates displaying a morphological and functional immune system conserved until mammals, thus representing a useful model for evolutionary studies. Teleosts are increasingly employed as experimental animal species for studies on physiological activities of vertebrates, and are widely used in the aquaculture industry. Due to its importance as high-quality food, the sea bass is, at present, one of the most important farmed species in the Mediterranean sea and many studies reported on the morphological and functional organisation of immune defences with the aim of controlling its health in farming conditions. From these studies, a panel of genes coding for the main immunomodulatory peptides of innate and acquired defences is available and constituted, at present, by genes coding for innate defences, for acquired defences, and for other immune-related activities. In this review all these genes are collected and defined as the sea bass ‘‘immunome’’, that is analysed in an evolutionary context.