According to conservative estimates, the impact of infectious diseases on cultured aquatic animals exceeds 10 billion USD annually. Within this context, viral diseases affectingfish pose a significant threat due to various factors, including the absence of optimal vaccines for some viruses, the lack of approved therapeutics, the high susceptibility of fish at an early age, and gaps in our understanding of viral pathogenesis and natural resistance mechanisms. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) serves as an excellent model organism for studying host-pathogen interactions due to its numerous advantages in research. Hence, it is frequently utilized for modeling infectious diseases that affect both mammals and fish. However, there are still many immune genes in zebrafish whose function remains unknown. One of the most highly induced genes following viral infections in zebrafish larvae, particularly with the red-spotted grouper nervous necrosis virus (RGNNV), was an unknown gene. We have characterized it as a new member of the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) and named immunoglobulin (Ig)-like domain-containing protein (igldcp). Igldcp seems to be involved in the antiviral response of fish and orthology analysis showed that it was only present in fish, specifically in the subclass Neopterygii. We found that igldcp can be considered an interferon-stimulated gene (ISG), since the overexpression of different type I interferons in zebrafish larvae increased the expression of igldcp. Overexpression and knockdown experiments of Igldcp in zebrafish embryos, using an expression plasmid or a morpholino, respectively, revealed a potential role of this protein in resistance to RGNNV. RNA-Seq analysis of zebrafish larvae overexpressing Igldcp, in the absence or presence of RGNNV infection, revealed significant modulation of four main groups of genes: various immune genes (mainly lectins, antigen-presenting molecules, and inflammation-related proteins), extracellular matrix or cell-cell adhesion-related genes, a wide range of zinc-finger proteins, and genes involved in cell proliferation. These modulations, along with the functional similarity of Igldcp to other IgSF members, suggest its involvement in T lymphocyte function. Moreover, numerous genes critical in the response to RGNNV are modulated in a similar manner by Igldcp, underscoring its importance in resistance to this virus

1 page.-- XVII Congreso Nacional de Virología, Santiago de Compostela, 2-5 de septiembre de 2024.-- Poster

Peer reviewed