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Updated: Dec 18, 2025
Detection of Tilapia Lake Virus Using Conventional RT-PCR and SYBR Green RT-qPCR
Published on: November 10, 2018
A microfibril-associated glycoprotein 4 (MFAP4) from Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) possesses agglutination and
Hairong Wu1, Liangliang Mu1, Xiaoxue Yin1
1Institute of Modern Aquaculture Science and Engineering, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Healthy and Safe Aquaculture, Guangzhou, 510631, PR China.
Abstract:
Microfibril-associated glycoprotein 4 (MFAP4), a pattern recognition-like molecule with a fibrinogen-like domain (FBG), has the ability to combine and agglutinate pathogens, playing an essential role in the first line of innate immune defense. In this study, the sequence of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) microfibril-associated glycoprotein 4 (OnMFAP4) open reading frame (ORF) was amplified and identified. The ORF of OnMFAP4 is 720 bp of nucleotides and codes for 239 amino acids. Spatial mRNA encoding analysis indicated that OnMFAP4 was highly produced in liver, intestine and head kidney in healthy tilapia, and with the lowest expression in muscle. After challenges with Streptococcus agalactiae (S. agalactiae) and Aeromonas hydrophila (A. hydrophila), the expression of OnMFAP4 mRNA was prominently produced in the liver, spleen and head kidney. The up-regulation of OnMFAP4 expression was also presented in head kidney monocytes/macrophages (MO/MΦ) and hepatocytes. Recombinant OnMFAP4 ((r)OnMFAP4) could bind and agglutinate both bacterial pathogens. Moreover, (r)OnMFAP4 could take part in the modulation of inflammation and phagocytosis. In conclusion, this study revealed that OnMFAP4 might take effect in host defense against bacterial infection in Nile tilapia, with agglutination and opsonization capability to bacterial pathogens.
