The Asian seabass (Lates calcarifer) is one of the most economically important aquaculture fish species in South East Asia. While the biology of the Asian seabass is widely studied, relatively little information is available at the molecular level. This lack of molecular information represents one obstacle to rapid progress in the study of immune responses particularly under aquaculture conditions. In light of this situation, we have undertaken an expressed sequence tag (EST) project on the Asian seabass spleen, the secondary lymphoid organ, for the identification of immune-related genes. A
total of 2932 ESTs were generated and grouped into 1063 unique transcripts (UTs), which consisted of 104 consensi and 959 singletons. Of these, 51.3% (545/1063) matched to previously identified genes, while 48.7% (518/1063) showed no match. Of the 545 homologous UTs, 102 (9.6%) can be putatively identified as immune-related genes. The identification of the putative immune-related genes provides a meaningful framework in the effort to comprehend the Asian seabass immune system that may lead to an increase in the understanding of the defense mechanisms of and our abilities to
manage this fish species.