Interferon regulatory factors 4 and 8 in rock bream, Oplegnathus fasciatus: Structural and expressional evidence for their antimicrobial role in teleosts

► Identification of IRF4 (RbIRF4) and IRF8 (RbIRF8) from rock bream. ► Genomic structure and promoter analysis of RbIRF4 and RbIRF8. ► Molecular characterization and molecular modeling of RbIRF4 and RbIRF8. ► mRNA quantification of RbIRF4 and RbIRF8 in healthy rock bream tissues. ► Expressional kinetics of RbIRF4 and RbIRF8 after PAMPs and pathogen challenges.