Protective effect of Clostridium butyricum against Carassius auratus herpesvirus in gibel carp

Abstract

A strain of Clostridium butyricum (Cb) was isolated and characterized as an immunostimulant for gibel carp. Healthy gibel carp were fed and immersed with or without Cb (group Cb + V and group V), and then were intraperitoneally injected with Carassius auratus herpesvirus (CaHV) respectively. The fish began to die at 4 days post injection (dpi). The overall survival rate of group Cb + V (45%) is more than that of group V (11%), which indicated the significant protection effect of Cb. The RT-qPCR results showed that virus major capsid protein gene (MCP) copy numbers of group Cb + V was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than that of group V at 3 dpi. Meanwhile, the expression levels of the four host innate immunity-related genes (IL11, IRF7, PKR, and Mx) were significantly higher (P < 0.01) in group Cb + V than in group V at this time point. IRF7 and PKR also had significantly higher expression levels in group Cb + V than in group V at 0 dpi, which revealed enhanced immune responses in Cb-treated fish. Treatment with Cb prompted stronger host immune responses at the early stage of virus infection, and then resulted in the survival of gibel carp. To our knowledge, it is the first report about the immune protection of fish from herpesvirus by probiotics.