Cloning and gene expression of allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) provide new insights into injury and bacteria response of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka, 1867)

• Allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AjAIF-1) was cloned from Apostichopus japonicus.
• The full-length of AjAIF-1 is 1541 bp with a 477 bp ORF.
• AjAIF-1 was widely expressed in all tested tissues of A. japonicus.
• AjAIF-1 could be induced by Vibrio splendidus challenge and physical injury in coelomocytes.

Allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) is an interferon (IFN)-γ-inducible Ca2+-binding cytokine that associates with the immune defense and inflammatory response. In this study, we reported AIF-1 gene in sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (AjAIF-1). The full-length cDNA of AjAIF-1 is 1541 bp with an open reading frame (ORF) of 477 bp encoding 158 amino acids. Two EF-hand Ca2+-binding motifs were found in the deduced AjAIF-1. AjAIF-1 was widely expressed in all tested tissues (body wall, intestine, respiratory tree, tube feet, coelomocytes and longitudinal muscle), with the highest expression in respiratory tree. After Vibrio splendidus challenge and physical injury, AjAIF-1 transcripts were significantly upregulated in coelomocytes. The mRNA expression level of AjAIF-1 in coelomocytes reached to the highest value at 4 h (3.38-folds vs. the PBS control, P < 0.05) post injection. After papilla injury, the mRNA level of AjAIF-1 in coelomocytes was upregulated, and its peak value was found at 4 h (3.88-folds vs. the control, P < 0.05). These results indicated that 1) AjAIF-1 sensitively responds to pathogen infection; 2) AjAIF-1 is involved in acute inflammatory response. Our findings gain general information about the role of AjAIF-1 in the innate immunity of A. japonicus.