扬子鳄β防御素基因的血液表达谱及饲养密度对防御素基因表达的影响

Expression profile ofβ-defensin genes and the effect of stocking density on them in Chinese alligator blood

为研究扬子鳄血液中β防御素基因家族的表达水平和饲养密度对群体防御素基因表达的影响,利用反转录荧光定量聚合酶链式反应(reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction,RT-qPCR)技术检测41头扬子鳄七龄鳄血液中β防御素基因的表达情况,并分析不同性别和不同饲养密度群体间防御素基因相对表达量的差异。结果表明:在扬子鳄群体血液中,表达的防御素基因有AsBD5和AsBD8,并且这2个基因的表达量之间存在显著的正相关性。AsBD5和AsBD8在雌性和雄性扬子鳄间的表达水平没有显著性差异;但是在不同饲养密度下,2个扬子鳄群体间的表达水平存在显著差异,其中饲养密度较高的扬子鳄群体,整体的防御素表达水平更高,表明饲养密度对扬子鳄圈养种群的免疫状态有一定的影响。

In order to investigate the expression profile ofβ-defensin genes in the blood of Chinese alligator and the effect of stocking density on them,reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR)was used to detect the expression levels ofβ-defensin genes in blood samples from 41 seven-year-old Chinese alligators and study the defensin gene expression level differences between sexes and populations with different stocking densities.The results showed that only the AsBD5 and AsBD8 genes expressed in the blood of Chinese alligator,and there was a significantly positive correlation between their expression levels.There was no significant sex-biased difference of the defensin gene expression levels.However,their expression levels were significantly different between the two populations with different stocking densities.The defensin gene expression levels were significantly higher in the Chinese alligator population with higher stocking density,which indicating that the stocking density has some effect on the immune status of the captive Chinese alligator.