Transcriptomic response of lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) head kidney to viral mimic, with a focus on the interferon regulatory factor family

To discover genes and mechanisms involved in the lumpfish antiviral response, fish (n=9 per group, i.e., for qPCR) were intraperitoneally injected with either the viral mimic polyinosinic polycytidylic acid [poly(I:C)] or phosphate buffered saline (PBS; vehicle control), and head kidneys were sampled 24 hours post-injection (hpi) for transcriptomic analyses. Five samples from the PBS-injected and the other 5 from the poly(I:C)-were used in the RNA-Seq.