Apoptosis plays vital roles in many physiological process and immune response. BOK is one of the central regulators in apoptosis. In this study, a new BOK homolog (Ec-BOK) was cloned and characterized from Orange-spotted grouper, Epinephelus coioides. Ec-BOK encoded a 210 amino acid peptides which shared 97% identity to Stegastes partitus BOK protein, contained four BH domains and one transmembrane region. Ec-BOK widely expressed in all analyzed tissues with the higher expressions in kidney and spleen. Its expression level was up-regulated after SGIV infection in vitro. Further analysis revealed that overexpression of Ec-BOK inhibited viral genes transcriptions and virus replication in fish cell. Our findings suggested that Ec-BOK might play a role in the immune response against virus.
Keywords: BOK; Epinephelus coioides; Singapore grouper iridovirus (SGIV); Viral gene; Viral replication.
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