Genome-wide evolution of MAPKs family and their expression in response to bacterial infection in seahorse Hippocampus erectus.

Seahorses have evolved many unique biological traits, including a male brood pouch, the absence of caudal and pelvic fins, and the lack of spleen and gut-associated lymphatic tissue. The mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are known to be involved in various important biological processes including growth, differentiation, immunity, and stress responses. Therefore, we hypothesized that the adaptive evolution and expression of the MAPK gene family in seahorse may differ from those of other teleost species. We identified positive selection sites in the erk2, erk5, jnk1, and p38α MAPK genes of the lined seahorse Hippocampus erectus and tiger-tailed seahorse Hippocampus comes. A novel expression profile of MAPK cascade genes was found in seahorse larvae during the first day after birth based on the RNA-seq data of H. erectus, which reflected vital signs of immune response to its parental immune system. The expression patterns of the four positively selected MAPK genes were analyzed following the bacterial challenge of Vibrio fortis, revealing their upregulation pattern in brood pouch and other immune tissues. This study enriched our knowledge of the evolution of the H. erectus MAPK subfamilies, and could help better understanding the functional role of MAPKs in teleosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]