Comparative study of pro-inflammatory cytokine expression among two common freshwater Cichlids

Although there is little information on the non-mammalian cytokines due to insufficient recombinant molecules and specific antibodies, this study was conceived to access the variation exhibited by different fish species using Coptodon zillii being one of the most stress- tolerant fish species, which was compared with Sarotherodon melanotheron found in same water bodies. We examined these species' peptide and nucleotide sequences of tumour necrosis factor α to determine its biological role in fish production in Nigeria water. The study was initiated to evaluate the survival strategy of these cichlid groups with varying degrees of physicochemical and organic stressors in their environment. This study also aimed to reveal the underlying genes responsible for these species' tolerance to various environmental conditions. Molecular and bioinformatics techniques were employed to carry out a comparative expression study of the proinflammatory cytokine gene of these two common freshwater tilapia species. TNF-α expression in the tilapia species studied was confirmed because of the single specific DNA band of all the PCR amplificons generated without a non-specific amplification, and 21 SNP variants were recorded on the sequence, which would have significant effects in their protein TNF-α primary sequences and subsequently have an effect in their protein structure as well as Pro-inflammatory responses.