Understanding the development of immunity in the early life of fish may help improve the effective management of diseases in aquaculture. However, little is known about the timing of the appearance of different immune-related genes in African catfish C. gariepinus, an important aquaculture species in Africa and Southeast Asia countries. The current study examined the transcriptional onset of immune-related mRNA expression during the development of C. gariepinus and analyzed their expression after pathogenic Aeromonas hydrophila infection. The results showed that the important innate and adaptive immune components mRNA transcripts were detected since the unfertilized eggs of C. gariepinus. The initial development of immune-competence in African catfish was predicted during 30–60 dah. Immune and stress genes were widely expressed in all tissues but mainly in the lymphoid organs and the liver. After the A. hydrophila challenge, the immune genes were modulated rapidly in the liver, spleen, and head kidney. The obtained findings are giving important information in understanding the immune maturation, and for the development of disease management in the African catfish culture.

了解鱼类早期生命中免疫力的发展可能有助于改善水产养殖疾病的有效管理。然而，人们对非洲cat鱼加里皮努斯（C. gariepinus）（非洲和东南亚国家的重要水产养殖物种）中与免疫相关的不同基因出现的时间知之甚少。目前的研究检查了加里皮梭菌发育过程中免疫相关mRNA表达的转录起始，并分析了其在致病性嗜水气单胞菌感染后的表达。结果表明，从未受精的C. gariepinus卵中检测到重要的先天和适应性免疫成分mRNA转录本。预计非洲cat鱼的免疫能力最初会在30-60天之间发展。免疫和应激基因在所有组织中广泛表达，但主要在淋巴器官和肝脏中表达。后嗜水气单挑战，免疫基因在肝脏，脾脏和头肾迅速调制。获得的发现为理解免疫成熟以及非洲，鱼养殖中疾病管理的发展提供了重要信息。