Mitochondrial antiviral signaling (MAVS) gene plays a key role in antiviral regulation in mammals potentially by activating IRF3/7 and NF-κB and leading to the induction of type I interferon (IFN)-mediated antiviral and inflammatory responses. In this study, we screened genetic polymorphisms of the MAVS gene in various Chinese domestic chicken breeds/populations and evaluated its potential effect on gene expression. Among the sequenced fragment (4678bp), a total of 75 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified in 46 chickens from 10 breeds/populations, including 30 coding SNPs and 45 non-coding SNPs. Extremely high haplotype diversity (37 nucleotide haplotypes, 18 amino acid haplotypes) was observed in the coding region (CDS), and a similar pattern of high polymorphisms was also observed for the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR). Luciferase assays of two representative 3'-UTR haplotypes were performed in both HEK293 cells and DF-1 chicken fibroblast cells, and we found that they were differentially associated with different abilities on regulating mRNA expression level (P<0.05). Collectively, we observed a considerably high genetic variability of the MAVS gene, and the 3'-UTR variants had an ability to regulate mRNA expression. These results would cast some clues on understanding the potential role of MAVS on viral resistance in chicken.
Keywords: 3'-UTR; Chicken; Haplotype; MAVS; Polymorphism.
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.