Interferon regulatory factor 7 contributes to the host response during Vibrio harveyi infection in the golden pompano Trachinotus ovatus.

Vibrio harveyi is regarded as serious pathogen for marine fishes. However, host defense mechanisms involved in V. harveyi infection remain incompletely defined. The transcription factor IFN regulatory factor 7 (IRF7) is largely associated with host defense against viral infections, and the role of IRF7 during V. harveyi infection in fish has not been well illuminated previously. In this study, IRF7 from golden pompano (Trachinotus ovatus) was characterized (TroIRF7). The TroIRF7 gene is 1323 bp, which encodes 440 amino acid residues. Multiple amino acid alignments of TroIRF7 shows 30.37%-80.18% identity with other fish IRF7s, including Epinephelus coioides (80.18%), Larimichthys crocea (79.72%), Collichthys lucidus (79.26%), Miichthys miiuy (79.26%), Channa argus (78.77%), Cynoglossus semilaevis (72.67%), and Gadus morhua (65.23%). Like other IRF7s, TroIRF7 also contains 3 conserved domains: an N-terminal DNA-binding domain (DBD), an IRF association domain (IAD), and a C-terminal serine-rich domain (SRD). In the DBD, 4-5 conserved tryptophans were observed, which is a characteristic unique to all fish IRF7 members. TroIRF7 was constitutively expressed, with high levels in gill, head kidney, spleen, skin, and intestine. V. harveyi infection-induced TroIRF7 transcripts significantly up-regulation and translocation to the nucleus. TroIRF7 overexpression promote the fish to inhibit the replication of V. harveyi. And TroIRF7 knockdown led to decreased bacterial clearance in fish tissue. Furthermore, over-expression of TroIRF7 resulted in an increased production of interferon a3 and IFN signaling molecule in the spleen, suggesting that V. harveyi activates the IRF7- IFN pathway. These results suggest that TroIRF7 is an important component of immune responses against V. harveyi infection.