Transcriptomic profiling of the immune response to Siniperca chuatsi rhabdovirus (SCRV) in E11 cells

Siniperca chuatsi rhabdovirus (SCRV) has caused severe disease and mortality in commercial fish in China. To investigate the molecular relationships between pathogen and host, transcriptome analysis of SCRV-infected and non-infected E11 cells was obtained using the Illumina HiSeq X Ten sequencing system. A total of 29,894 unigenes were assembled and a total of 4137 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), consisting of 2189 up-regulated and 1948 down-regulated unigenes, were detected between SCRV-infected and non-infected E11 cells. To understand the immune response of the host against the virus, pathway function analysis indicates that SCRV infection affected 31 typical immune-related pathways, including MAPK signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, endocytosis, and apoptosis, suggesting that E11 cells resist SCRV invasion through these innate immune pathways. Overall, qRT-PCR results showed similar expression to Illumina HiSeq, with reliable sequencing results. These results provided some vital clues which will be helpful for future study on SCRV-host interactions.