ArticleBMC genomics2015
Identification, characterisation and expression analysis of natural killer receptor genes in Chlamydia pecorum infected koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus).
Article in BMC genomics, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Current status and future directions ofFrontiers in veterinary science · 2026Pooled it
- Koala ocular disease grades are defined by chlamydial load changes and increases in Th2 immune responses.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- Animal Age Affects the Gut Microbiota and Immune System in Captive Koalas (Microbiology spectrum · 2023Article
- Best genome sequencing strategies for annotation of complex immune gene families in wildlife.GigaScience · 2022Article
- Transmissible cancer influences immune gene expression in an endangered marsupial, the Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii).Molecular ecology · 2022Article
- Annotation of immune genes in the extinct thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus).Immunogenetics · 2021Article
- Physiological stress levels in wild koala sub-populations facing anthropogenic induced environmental trauma and disease.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Adaptation and conservation insights from the koala genome.Nature genetics · 2018Article
- Transcriptome sequencing of the long-nosed bandicoot (Perameles nasuta) reveals conservation and innovation of immune genes in the marsupial order Peramelemorphia.Immunogenetics · 2018Article
- Identification of stable reference genes for quantitative PCR in koalas.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- Identification and analysis of divergent immune gene families within the Tasmanian devil genome.BMC genomics · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundKoalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), an iconic Australian marsupial, are being heavily impacted by the spread of Chlamydia pecorum, an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen. Koalas vary in their response to this pathogen, with some showing no symptoms, while others suffer severe symptoms leading to infertility, blindness or death. Little is known about the pathology of this disease and the immune response against it in this host. Studies have demonstrated that natural killer (NK) cells, key components of the innate immune system, are involved in the immune response to chlamydial infections in humans. These cells can directly lyse cells infected by intracellular pathogens and their ability to recognise these infected cells is mediated through NK receptors on their surface. These are encoded in two regions of the genome, the leukocyte receptor complex (LRC) and the natural killer complex (NKC). These two families evolve rapidly and different repertoires of genes, which have evolved by gene duplication, are seen in different species.
methodsIn this study we aimed to characterise genes belonging to the NK receptor clusters in the koala by searching available koala transcriptomes using a combination of search methods. We developed a qPCR assay to quantify relative expression of four genes, two encoded within the NK receptor cluster (CLEC1B, CLEC4E) and two known to play a role in NK response to Chalmydia in humans (NCR3, PRF1).
resultsWe found that the NK receptor repertoire of the koala closely resembles that of the Tasmanian devil, with minimal genes in the NKC, but with lineage specific expansions in the LRC. Additional genes important for NK cell activity, NCR3 and PRF1, were also identified and characterised. In a preliminary study to investigate whether these genes are involved in the koala immune response to infection by its chlamydial pathogen, C. pecorum, we investigated the expression of four genes in koalas with active chlamydia infection, those with past infection and those without infection using qPCR. This analysis revealed that one of these four, CLEC4E, may be upregulated in response to chlamydia infection.
conclusionWe have characterised genes of the NKC and LRC in koalas and have discovered evidence that one of these genes may be upregulated in koalas with chlamydia, suggesting that these receptors may play a role in the immune response of koalas to chlamydia infection.
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