Chinese perch (Siniperca chuatsi), an important fish for the aquaculture industry of China, is often affected by viral diseases. A stable and sensitive cell line can play an important role in virus identification and isolation, functional gene identification, virus pathogenic mechanism and antiviral immunity study. In the present study, a new cell line (S. chuatsi skin cell, SCSC) derived from the skin of S. chuatsi was established. The SCSC mainly consisted of fibroblastic‐like cells, which grew well in M199 medium supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum at 25°C. Chromosome analysis revealed that the SCSC (44%) has a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 48. The SCSC can be transfected and expressed exogenous gene efficiently. It also showed high sensitivity to several aquatic animal viruses from different families including Rhabdoviridae, Iridoviridae and Reoviridae. In addition, RT‐PCR showed that S. chuatsi rhabdovirus (SCRV) started genome replication as early as 3 h post infection in the cells, which also induced the up‐regulation of a variety of immune‐related genes including these related to interleukin family, pattern recognition receptors, JAK–STAT pathway and interferon regulatory factors. In summary, current study provided a new tool in research of fish viruses and its interaction with host.

Fish rhabdoviruses, including Siniperca chuatsi rhabdovirus (SCRV), are epidemic pathogens that harm fish aquaculture. To clarify the interactions between SCRV and its host and explore antiviral targets, the present study performed transcriptome analysis in a cultured S. chuatsi skin cell line (SCSC) after SCRV infection at 3, 12, 24, and 36 h post-infection (hpi). Comparison with control obtained 38, 353, 896, and 1452 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the detected time points, respectively. Further analysis of the Go terms and KEGG pathways revealed the key pathways “Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction” and “interferon related pathways” in SCSC cells responding to SCRV infection. The significantly up-regulated genes in the pathways were also verified by qPCR. Furthermore, gene cloning and overexpression revealed that five interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) IFI4407, IFI35, Viperin, IFIT1, and IFIT5 had the ability to inhibit SCRV replication in FHM (Fathead minnow) cells, especially an inhibition efficiency more than 50% was observed in IFI35 overexpressed cells. In summary, current study revealed the main innate immune pathways in S. chuatsi cells induced by SCRV infection and the major ISGs of S. chuatsi in controlling SCRV replication.

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