Edwardsiella tarda, the bacterial pathogen that causes ascites disease and red-head disease, poses a serious threat to yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco) aquaculture. In this study, the spleens of E. tarda-infected and non-infected yellow catfish were sequenced to obtain the microRNA (miRNA) and mRNA expression profiles. We obtained 657 differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs and 6867 DE mRNAs between two groups and annotated them using the KEGG database. In addition, the 43 negatively correlated miRNA-mRNA pairs were identified using integrated miRNA-mRNA analysis, which including immune-related miRNAs and target genes such as miR-144, miR-1260, miR-1388, miR-33, miR-338, miR-181b, miR-34c, miR-135 and CLEC4E, LITR, PIKfyve, NCF4, IL-12β, IP6K2, TNFRSF9, IL-4Rα, IRF2, Mx2. We verified 8 DE miRNAs pairs and 10 DE mRNAs by quantitative real-time PCR. Finally, the CLEC4E and Mx2 mRNAs were selected for further verification using in situ hybridization. Together, our results provide valuable information for further analyses of the mechanisms of yellow catfish defense against E. tarda infection.

引起腹水病和红头病的细菌病原体迟发爱德华氏菌对黄鲶（ Pelteobagrus fulvidraco）水产养殖构成严重威胁。在这项研究中，对感染和未感染E. tarda的黄鲶鱼的脾脏进行测序，以获得 microRNA (miRNA) 和 mRNA 表达谱。我们在两组之间获得了 657 个差异表达 (DE) miRNA 和 6867 个 DE mRNA，并使用 KEGG 数据库对它们进行了注释。此外，使用整合的 miRNA-mRNA 分析鉴定了 43 个负相关 miRNA-mRNA 对，其中包括免疫相关 miRNA 和靶基因，如 miR-144、miR-1260、miR-1388、miR-33、miR-338 , miR-181b, miR-34c, miR-135 和CLEC4E , LITR ,PIKfyve、NCF4、IL-12β、IP6K2、TNFRSF9、IL-4Rα、IRF2、Mx2。我们通过定量实时 PCR 验证了 8 个 DE miRNA 对和 10 个 DE mRNA。最后，使用原位杂交选择CLEC4E 和 Mx2 mRNA 进行进一步验证。总之，我们的研究结果为进一步分析黄鲶鱼防御迟缓大肠杆菌感染的机制提供了有价值的信息。