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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Viral Immunology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1513966

Chromatin accessibility and differentially expressed genes profiling in large yellow croaker (Larimichthys crocea) head kidney cells following iridovirus infection

Provisionally accepted
Songchaowei Songchaowei Songchaowei Songchaowei 1Ying Huang Ying Huang 1Fang Han Fang Han 1*Zhiyong Wang Zhiyong Wang 1,2*
  • 1 Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
  • 2 Laboratory for Marine Fisheries Science and Food Production Processes, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The large yellow croaker iridovirus (LYCIV) poses a significant threat to the aquaculture industry of Larimichthys crocea. To gain insight into the defense response to LYCIV infection, an epigenetic approach was employed in this study utilizing the assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq) to investigate dynamic changes in chromatin accessibility. In addition, the pattern of immune response genes expression upon LYCIV infection was investigated by RNA-seq. Substantial alterations in chromatin accessibility were observed, particularly within the regulatory regions of key immune-related genes. The expression of AP-1 transcription factors including Batf gene was significantly changed. CUT&Tag results showed that AP-1 was significantly enriched in the open chromatin regions of cytokine genes, with Batf potentially regulating the cytokine genes LIF and CLCF1. These results suggest that AP-1 may contribute to the defense response against viral infection by modulating inflammatory cytokines and participating in cellular inflammatory responses. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the epigenomic landscape and the regulated gene expression upon iridovirus attack in L. crocea and offers valuable reference data for breeding programs to combat iridovirus infection.

    Keywords: chromatin accessibility, Iridovirus Infection, epigenetics, immune gene expression, ATAC-seq

    Received: 19 Oct 2024; Accepted: 09 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Songchaowei, Huang, Han and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Fang Han, Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, China
    Zhiyong Wang, Fisheries College, Jimei University, Xiamen, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.