Our understanding of the specificities of innate immune protection against viral pathogens in non-model invertebrate species is limited, and comparative immunological approaches may offer opportunities to protect agriculturally significant species such as abalone, against viral threats like Haliotid herpesvirus.
Gene mining strategies and domain analysis of the Australian greenlip abalone draft genome was performed, to understand key players involved in the abalone immune response, in comparison to the better studied mollusc, the oyster. Significant divergence in members of the TLR, cytosolic RNA/DNA and RNA interference signalling pathways was observed between the two molluscs, with the oyster closely reflecting that of the mammalian immune response. Interestingly, STING, a member of the dsDNA sensing pathway was absent in both the greenlip abalone and in a transcriptome assembly of the Australian blacklip abalone, however, is present in the oyster genome, and two additional abalone species (Haliotis rufescens, Haliotis discus hannai). We hypothesise that this may alter susceptibility to HaHV-1 challenge in vivo, however further work needs to be performed to determine this.
This work provides a better understanding of the key features of the abalone antiviral innate immune system, providing key information towards the development of anti-viral strategies in these animals.