Molecular cloning and characterization of class I NF-κB transcription factor from pearl oyster (Pinctada fucata)

NF-κB transcription factors play central roles in many important physiological and pathological processes including innate immune responses. Here we report the cloning of an NF-κB transcription factor, PfRelish from pearl oyster Pinctada fucata, one of the most important bivalve mollusks for seawater pearl production. PfRelish full-length cDNA is 3916 bp with an open reading frame of 3558 bp encoding a putative protein of 1186 amino acids. The deduced PfRelish contains a N-terminal RHD, a nucleus localization signal, an IκB-like domain with six ankyrin repeats and a death domain at the C-terminus, which is similar to class I NF-κB transcription factors. Comparison and phylogenetic analysis revealed that class I NF-κBs in mollusks including PfRelish might have most distant relationship to the arthropod Relish. Further expression analysis showed that PfRelish was apparently upregulated after Vibrio alginolyticus injection, which suggested that PfRelish was involved in the immune response to V. alginolyticus.