ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Aquatic Physiology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1662359
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Interplay Between Pathogen–Host–Environment on the Emergence of DiseaseView all articles
Molecular characterization and expression analysis of hypoxia inducible factor-1α during hypoxic stress in speckled blue grouper (Epinephelus cyanopodus)
Provisionally accepted
Along Gao1*
Qiaoyi Chen1Yukun Huang1Zhiya Yu1Wenjie He1Jinhui Wu2Jinxiong Huang2Tianguang Cai3Hu Shu1- 1Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
- 2Agro-Tech Extension Center of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, China
- 3Shenzhen Haiyuan Aquacture Technology CO., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong, Shenzhen, China
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The speckled blue grouper (Epinephelus cyanopodus) is a coral reefdwelling grouper with high market and ecological value. During intensive aquaculture and the transportation of live fish, fish often expose acute hypoxic stress. In this study, transcriptomic techniques were used to detect the response of E. cyanopodus to acute hypoxia. The results showed that after acute hypoxia, there were 2,887 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the head kidney. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed that the DEGs were mainly involved in processes such as transmembrane signal receptor activity, G protein-coupled receptor activity, and molecular transducer activity, involving the HIF-1, PI3K-Akt, and AMPK signaling pathways. In addition, E. cyanopodus HIF-1α (EcHIF-1α) was cloned and characterized. Multiple analyses have shown that the EcHIF-1α had a relatively high conservation. Tissue distribution indicated that EcHIF-1α was expressed in all tissues and was highly expressed in the heart, liver, and peripheral blood. The results of qRT-PCR were consistent with the transcriptomic techniques, and the expression of EcHIF-1α was significant after hypoxia. Meanwhile, EcHIF-1α was significantly induced by Vibrio harveyi, LPS and Poly (I:C) in the head kidney and liver, indicating that EcHIF-1α was involved in the immune response. After hypoxia treatment, the significant expression of EcHIF-1α induced by Vibrio harveyi, LPS and Poly(I:C) was further advanced and enhanced.These results not only confirmed the key role of HIF-1α in fish pathogen infection, but also demonstrated experimentally for the first time that oxygen stress can pre-activate the immune response of speckled blue grouper against pathogenic bacteria. Overall, the work not only contributes to a thorough understanding of the hypoxia tolerance mechanism of teleost, but also provides a new perspective for further exploration of hypoxia and the outbreak of aquatic pathogen diseases.
Keywords: Epinephelus cyanopodus, hypoxia, HIF-1α, immune response, Vibrio harveyi
Received: 09 Jul 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Chen, Huang, Yu, He, Wu, Huang, Cai and Shu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Along Gao, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
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