AUTHOR=Huang Lixing , Zhao Lingmin , Liu Wenjia , Xu Xiaojin , Su Yongquan , Qin Yingxue , Yan Qingpi 

TITLE=Dual RNA-Seq Unveils Pseudomonas plecoglossicida htpG Gene Functions During Host-Pathogen Interactions With Epinephelus coioides

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2019.00984

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2019.00984

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Pseudomonas plecoglossicida</italic> is a temperature-dependent opportunistic pathogen which is associated with a variety of diseases in fish. During the development of “white nodules” disease, the expression of <italic>htpG</italic> in <italic>P. plecoglossicida</italic> was found to be significantly up-regulated at its virulent temperature of 18°C. The infection of <italic>htpG</italic>-RNAi strain resulted in the onset time delay, reduction in mortality and infection symptoms in spleen of <italic>Epinephelus coioides</italic>, and affected the bacterial tissue colonization. In order to reveal the effect of <italic>htpG</italic> silencing of <italic>P. plecoglossicida</italic> on the virulence regulation in <italic>P. plecoglossicida</italic> and immune response in <italic>E. coioides</italic>, dual RNA-seq was performed and a pathogen-host integration network was constructed. Our results showed that infection induced the expression of host genes related to immune response, but attenuated the expression of bacterial virulence genes. Novel integration was found between host immune genes and bacterial virulence genes, while <italic>IL6, IL1R2, IL1B</italic>, and <italic>TLR5</italic> played key roles in the network. Further analysis with GeneMANIA indicated that <italic>flgD</italic> and <italic>rplF</italic> might play key roles during the <italic>htpG</italic>-dependent virulence regulation, which was in accordance with the reduced biofilm production, motility and virulence in <italic>htpG</italic>-RNAi strain. Meanwhile, <italic>IL6</italic> and <italic>IL1B</italic> were found to play key roles during the defense against <italic>P. plecoglossicida</italic>, while <italic>CELA2, TRY, CPA1, CPA2</italic>, and <italic>CPB1</italic> were important targets for <italic>P. plecoglossicida</italic> attacking to the host.</p>