CK‐1, a putative chemokine of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

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Abstract
Summary: Chemokines arc small inducible proteins that direct the migration of leukocytes. While chemokines are well characterised in mammals, they have yet to be identified in fish. We have isolated a cDNA clone from rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) which encodes a protein (CK-1) having structural features typical of chemokines. Amino-acid residues that define the β-chemokines of mammals are conserved in CK-1, including the paired cysteine motif, CC. Further similarities are shared with the C6 subfamily of β-chemokines. In contrast, the organisation of the CK-f gene is closer to that of mammalian α-chemokine genes than β-chemokine genes. The CK-1 gene is present in all four salmonid species examined and the nucleotide sequences of the exons are highly conserved. CK-1 has characteristics in common with mammalian α and β-chemokine suggesting that this salmonid chemokine gene preserves traits once present in the ancestral chemokine gene from which modern mammalian chemokine genes evolved.