Molecular cloning of the duck mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1) gene and the development of a quantitative real-time PCR assay to detect its expression.

Mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 (MAPK1) acts as an integration point for multiple biochemical signals, and is involved in a wide variety of biological processes such as cell proliferation and differentiation, transcription regulation, and development. Mitogen-activated protein kinase 1 plays an important role in inducing cell death in bacterial infections. In this study, the duck MAPK1 gene was cloned for the first time from the Cherry Valley duck. Sequence analysis showed that duck MAPK1 cDNA is 1,557 bp long, with an open reading frame of 1,107 bp. It encodes 368 amino acids, with 85.4, 84.5, and 97.3% homology with the human, mouse, and chicken MAPK1 gene, respectively. Furthermore, a SYBR Green quantitative real-time PCR assay was developed to detect duck MAPK1 expression. Following Riemerella anatipestifer infection by virulent strain Yb2, MAPK1 mRNA level increased more than 200-fold in the duck spleens, suggesting that increased duck MAPK1 expression can be used as an indicator of bacterial infection. Our results provide ground work to warrant further studies of the duck MAPK1 gene in bacterial pathogenesis.