LC-qTOF-MS analysis of fish immune organs reveals the distribution of amino acids in response to metabolic adaptation of the survival phenotype in grouper against Vibrio infection

Syarul Nataqain Baharum; Yosmetha Mayalvanan; Maya Erna Natnan; Kamalrul Azlan Azizan; Hamidun Bunawan; Nik Raikhan Nik Him; Chen-Fei Low; Chou-Min Chong

doi:10.1007/s13205-022-03269-1

LC-qTOF-MS analysis of fish immune organs reveals the distribution of amino acids in response to metabolic adaptation of the survival phenotype in grouper against Vibrio infection

3 Biotech. 2022 Sep;12(9):206. doi: 10.1007/s13205-022-03269-1. Epub 2022 Aug 3.

Authors

Syarul Nataqain Baharum¹, Yosmetha Mayalvanan¹, Maya Erna Natnan¹, Kamalrul Azlan Azizan¹, Hamidun Bunawan¹, Nik Raikhan Nik Him², Chen-Fei Low¹, Chou-Min Chong³

Affiliations

¹ Metabolomics Research Laboratory, Institute of Systems Biology (INBIOSIS), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM, Bangi, 43600 Selangor Malaysia.
² Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, 40450 Selangor Malaysia.
³ Aquaculture Animal Health and Therapeutics Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, 43400 Selangor Malaysia.

Abstract

Epinephelus fuscoguttatus is economically crucial to various Southeast Asia countries where they are reared in fish farms to meet the demand for supply. However, a systemic infectious disease known as vibriosis has steadily and extensively affected the fish farming industry. The disease is caused by Vibrio spp., which are pathogenic gram-negative bacteria. This study focused on understanding the host's metabolic adaptation against Vibrio vulnificus infection, which features a survival phenotype, by profiling the metabolites in grouper fingerlings that survived the experimental infection. Mapping of the pathways is crucial to explain the roles of metabolites in fish immunity. A solvent extraction method was used on the grouper's immune organs (gills, liver and spleen) prior to Liquid Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (LC-qTOF-MS) analysis. The metabolites identified in fingerlings that survived experimental infections were mostly amino acids (primary metabolites). Glutamine (0.44%), alanine (0.68%), phenylalanine (2.63%) and tyrosine (2.60%) were highly abundant in survived-infected gills. Aspartic acid (13.57%) and leucine (4.01%) were highly abundant in the livers of the survived-infected fish and lysine was highly abundant in both gills (2.94%) and liver (3.64%) of the survived-infected fish. Subsequent bioinformatics analysis revealed the involvement of the identified functional amino acids in various immune-related pathways. The current findings facilitate the comprehension of the metabolic adaptation of grouper fingerlings that exhibited a survival phenotype against Vibrio infection.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-022-03269-1.

Keywords: Amino acids; Grouper; LC–qTOF-MS analysis; Metabolic adaptation; Vibriosis.

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