Early Transcriptomic Profile of Mucosal Immune Responses in the Intestine of Japanese Puffer (Takifugu rubripes) Infected With Vibrio harveyi

Abstract

Japanese puffer (Takifugu rubripes) is an important mariculture species, but the development of the aquaculture industry has been accompanied by serious disease problems. Vibrio harveyi is one of the most important pathogens in T. rubripes. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanism responsible for intestinal mucosal immunity of T. rubripes during V. harveyi infection, we established a transcriptome of the posterior intestine of T. rubripes after 0, 3, and 24 h of infection with V. harveyi. 12 fish (weighing 300 ± 5.5 g) were randomly selected from 60 T. rubripes and four were assigned to each time point. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 3,042 and 3,342 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at 3 h and 24 h, respectively, compared with those at 0 h. Enrichment analysis of these DEGs revealed significant mucosal immune-related pathways, including cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction, phagosome, and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) signaling pathways. In addition, the intestinal histopathological changes were explored after V. harveyi infection. Further analysis showed that the structure of infected intestines was still integrated, with the majority of the pathological trauma occurring in the submucosa. Our results provided new insights for further study of the mucosal immune defense mechanisms of fish against V. harveyi, promoting our understanding of this severe disease.