Transcription efficiency of different chicken mannose-binding lectin promoter alleles

The serum collectin mannose-binding lectin (MBL) plays a major role in innate immunity by activation of the lectin complement pathway or by acting as an opsonin. The serum levels of human and animal MBL are associated with susceptibility to a wide range of infections, and the variation of MBL in serum is genetically determined. In the chicken, 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have so far been found in the MBL promoter region. In this study, the transcription activity of a 670-bp promoter region covering all 14 SNPs from the four MBL promoter alleles A1 to A4 was assessed using a dual-luciferase assay. Of the analysed alleles, A1 showed the highest transcription activity although this allele is frequently found in chickens with low MBL mRNA expression.