Characterization of ATG14 in NNV infected seven-band grouper, Hyporthodus septemfasciatus

Abstract

Autophagy plays a regulatory role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and removing viruses by breaking down substances within cells. However, excessive autophagy can lead to the development of cancer and diabetes. Some viruses can exploit autophagy to harm their hosts during their replication. Autophagy-related genes (ATGs) are genes that regulate and mediate the various functions of autophagy. Among them, ATG14 plays an important role in the regulation of autophagy as a subunit of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase complex. Recent studies show that autophagy plays an important role in the infection of nervous necrosis virus (NNV). In this study, we identified ATG14 in the seven-band grouper (Hyporthdus septemfasciatus) and confirmed the gene expression levels in several tissues. HS.ATG14 had a length of approximately 300 bp, and the phylogenetic analysis was estimated by determining the alignment result with other organisms. The expression level of HS.ATG14 showed the most significant upregulation in the brain upon NNV infection, with an increase of about 41 times compared to normal conditions in seven-band grouper. HS.ATG14 increased the expression level of RNA 1 and 2 of NNV when overexpressed in SSN-1 cells. Finally, the expression levels of several signaling molecules due to HS.ATG14, which is involved in the infection process of NNV, was checked at the level of RNA expression. This suggests that autophagy affects the seven-band grouper when infected with NNV.