The interleukin-1 receptor/toll-like receptor (IL-1R/TLR) superfamily, defined by a cytosolic Toll/IL-1R (TIR) signalling domain, participates in host responses to injury and infection. We describe in this study the cloning of a cDNA encoding a Salmo salar interleukin-1 receptor-like protein (SalIL-1RLP). SalIL-1RLP comprises a potential signal peptide, three extracellular immunoglobulin domains, a short transmembrane region and an intracellular region that contains the TIR domain. The predicted amino acid sequence of SalIL-1RLP displays 43-44% similarities and 31% identities to chicken and human IL-1RI sequences. Within the intracellular region, SalIL-1RLP displays highest similarity (59%) and identity (46%) to the chicken IL-1RI sequence. Two different 5' distal UTRs were identified among six salmon IL-1RLP clones. The six clones, however, displayed identical 5' proximal UTRs, coding regions and 3' UTRs. SalIL-1RLP expression is induced in liver, head kidney, spleen and gills upon injection of salmon with bacterial lipopolysaccharide. Sequence comparisons, protein domain structures, expression patterns and phylogenetic analyses indicate that SalIL-1RLP is most closely related to type I interleukin-1 receptors and interleukin-1 receptor related proteins.