3.3 | Functional annotations
Candidate SNP loci which showed significant associations with virus
exposure were successfully mapped to the annotated H. rubragenome. SNPeff analyses predicted 333 candidate loci to have moderate
effect on protein function (involving non-synonomous mutations), while
489 candidates were predicted to have low effect, and 24,722 candidates
were recognised as non-coding or intergenic variants. Candidate loci
that successfully mapped to H. rubra genome peptides sequences,
were found to correspond with gene homologs in other animal systems
including haliotids, non-haliotid marine molluscs, crustaceans,
and humans. These include 13 gene homologs linked to HaHV-1 immunity in
New Zealand pāua (H. iris ), and 13 genes associated with herpes
virus response pathways in Japanese disk abalone (H. discus
hannai ), decapod crustaceans (Penaues monodon andProcambarus clarkia ), and humans (Table 2). An additional 10
peptides mapped to gene homologs associated with host-virus interactions
in various haliotids (H. discus hannai , H. laevigata , andH. ruscefens ), decapod crustaceans (Penaues monodon andProcambarus clarkia ), and humans (Table 2). All gene homologs and
known functions are provided in Table 2. Notable findings include
several genes linked to chitin-binding peritrophin-A domain, and the
cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A family, which have recognised associations with
immune responses in aquatic molluscs (Badariotti et al. 2007;
Zhao et al. 2017) and humans (Fattahi et al. 2018),
respectively. Also, the CREB-binding protein (CBP), which is associated
with herpesvirus responses in humans (Gwack et al. 2001; Chenet al. 2020), as well as immune pathways for C-type lectins that
are important contributors to innate immune responses in invertebrates
(Nam et al. 2016; Zhang et al. 2018; Qin et al.2019).