Single molecule real-time sequencing and RNA-seq unravel the role of long non-coding and circular RNA in the regulatory network during Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) infection with Streptococcus agalactiae.

•The full-length transcriptome significantly enriched the annotation information of the tilapia genome.•Tilapia head kidney and spleen tissues exert synergistic and independent effects on immunity.•Tilapia immune response to S. agalactiae was proposed to occur in three stages.•Tilapia ceRNA networks potentially affect the S. agalactiae immune response.