Modulation of gut immune-metabolic pathways by oligochitosan in hybrid grouper infected with Edwardsiella ictaluri
Modulation of gut immune-metabolic pathways by oligochitosan in hybrid grouper infected with Edwardsiella ictaluri
Before the start of the experiment, 600 healthy hybrid groupers with an average body weight of 42.3 ± 2.8 g were acclimatized in a recirculating aquaculture system (water temperature: 28–30°C; pH: 7.8 ± 0.2) and fasted for 24 h. The fish were then randomly allocated to four treatment groups: Control group ( Control )which received no treatment and was fed a standard commercial diet; E. ictaluri-infected group (Control-Edward) which was administered E. ictaluri via oral gavage and fed the standard diet; oligochitosan-supplemented group (OCS) which was fed the standard diet supplemented with oligochitosan; and E. ictaluri-infected group followed by oligochitosan supplementation (OCS-Edward)which was challenged with E. ictaluri and provided the oligochitosan-supplemented diet.  Total RNA was extracted from the midgut of grass carp by using the TRlzol Reagent and following the manufacturer's instructions (Life Technologies, California, USA). cDNA libraries were constructed as per the instruction manual of NEBNext Ultra RNA Library Prep Kit.