title: N-acetylglucosamine enhances survival ability of tilapias infected by Streptococcus iniae.
abstract: Streptococcus iniae infection has emerged as a serious fish health and economic problem in the global aquaculture operations. Current antibiotic options are few and possess severe practical limitations and potential adverse environmental impacts. The major factor contributing to the large burden of S. iniae disease in aquaculture is the lack of fundamental knowledge of innate immunity against the pathogen. In the present study, we use a tilapia model to explore which metabolites are crucial for the defense against the infection caused by S. iniae. We establish GC/MS based metabolic profile of tilapia liver and then compare the metabolic difference between survivals and the dying fish post the bacterial infection. We identify elevating N-acetylglucosamine in survival group as the most crucial metabolite differentiating the survivals from the dying in these fish infected by S. iniae. Exogenous N-acetylglucosamine significantly elevates survival ability of tilapia against the infection caused by S. iniae. Our findings highlight the importance of metabolic strategy against bacterial infections.
authors.affiliation: Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, State Key Laboratory of Bio-Control, MOE Key Lab Aquatic Food Safety, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, University City, Guangzhou 510006, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhi-xue
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, State Key Laboratory of Bio-Control, MOE Key Lab Aquatic Food Safety, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, University City, Guangzhou 510006, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yan-mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, State Key Laboratory of Bio-Control, MOE Key Lab Aquatic Food Safety, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, University City, Guangzhou 510006, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: lihui32@sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, State Key Laboratory of Bio-Control, MOE Key Lab Aquatic Food Safety, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, University City, Guangzhou 510006, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: pxuanx@sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xuan-xian
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Peng
mesh_terms: D000117:Acetylglucosamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000187:drug effects*; D055442:Metabolome; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000662:veterinary*; D013291:Streptococcus / Q000502:physiology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D017210:Tilapia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000117:Acetylglucosamine
keywords: GC/MS; Metabolomics; N-acetylglucosamine; Streptococcus iniae; Tilapia