Development and characterisation of microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism markers in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.)

expression (Eukaryotic and Prokaryotic) vector capable of providing the desired outcomes. Most commercially available delivery vectors employ the CMV promoter to drive expression of the foreign protein. However, given that ELI relies on the simultaneous expression of many foreign proteins (sometimes thousands) at once then it may be prudent to incorporate a promoter that has increased activity within fish. To this end we have isolated and characterized the β-actin promoter from Atlantic salmon. Expression activity of the β-actin promoter was compared to a CMV promoter via a CAT assay and was shown to be far more efficient in transient assays, involving intramuscular injections. Finally we constructed a new dual expression vector, pbS-Sfi-CAT, incorporating the β-actin promoter, a prokaryotic promoter (T5/lacO), and SfiI restriction sites for ease of cloning. The efficacy of this new vector for Atlantic salmon vaccination studies will be discussed in the context of expression library immunization.