The immune response of the mussel mytilus galloprovincialis. Transcriptomics, proteomics and evolutionary aspects

Abstract

My PhD Thesis was focused on the study of genetic variability in the immune system of the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. I studied the immune response of this species to marine pathogens by performing transcriptomic and proteomic analyses. Some of the main immune gene families that were leading the response in these studies were further analysed through comparative genomics with an evolutionary approach. I revealed large gene family expansions characterizing the immune system of mussel, studied the conservation of such expansions in other bivalves with respect to other metazoans and related it to functional diversifiaction using expression data.