Effects of dietary supplementation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa FARP72 on the immunomodulation and resistance to Edwardsiella tarda in Pangasius pangasius

Edwardsiella tarda is one of the serious bacterial pathogens infecting both cultured and wild catfish urging an immediate need for effective protection strategies. This study assessed the effects of dietary supplementation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa FARP72 at 10⁸ cells/g feed (PA diet) for 30 days on the innate immunity parameters, viz., respiratory oxidative burst (ROB) activity, lysozyme, ceruloplasmin, myeloperoxidase, in-vitro nitric oxide (NO) production in addition to the expression of immune genes encoding interleukin-1β, C3 and transferrin in yellowtail catfish Pangasius pangasius and their resistance to Edwardsiella tarda challenge at a sub-lethal dose of 1.50 × 10⁷ cells/fish. A significant increase in the innate immunity parameters was noted in PA diet-fed catfish on 30 dpf compared to the control. Post E. tarda challenge, the levels of immune parameters increased significantly and peaked at 5 dpi irrespective of feeding to confer protection against E. tarda. Their levels, however, decreased on and from 10 dpi. The results on the expression of immune genes encoding interleukin-1β, C3 and transferrin in the kidney and liver tissue samples of PA diet-fed P. pangasius upon challenge with E. tarda further confirmed the ability of P. aeruginosa to stimulate primary immune organs at the gene level. The effects of feeding P. aeruginosa FARP72 on the immune functions of catfish as examined by the functional immune assays, thus, demonstrating the innate immune responses of catfish that are differentially stimulated by the PA diet. The findings of our study would help evolve management strategies to confer protection against E. tarda infection in commercial catfish aquaculture.