Crosstalks between NOD1 and Histone H2A Contribute to Host Defense against Streptococcus agalactiae Infection in Zebrafish

Correlation studies about NOD1 and histones have not been reported. In the present study, we report the functional correlation between NOD1 and the histone H2A variant in response to Streptococcus agalactiae infection. In zebrafish, NOD1 deficiency significantly promoted S. agalactiae proliferation and decreased larval survival. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the significantly enriched pathways in NOD1(−/−) adult zebrafish were mainly involved in immune and metabolism. Among 719 immunity-associated DEGs at 48 hpi, 74 DEGs regulated by NOD1 deficiency were histone variants. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis identified that H2A, H2B, and H3 had significant associations with NOD1 deficiency. Above all, S. agalactiae infection could induce the expression of intracellular histone H2A, as well as NOD1 colocalized with histone H2A, both in the cytoplasm and cell nucleus in the case of S. agalactiae infection. The overexpression of H2A variants such as zfH2A-6 protected against S. agalactiae infection and could improve cell survival in NOD1-deficient cells. Furthermore, NOD1 could interact with zfH2A-6 and cooperate with zfH2A-6 to inhibit the proliferation of S. agalactiae. NOD1 also showed a synergetic effect in inducing the expression of many antibacterial genes, especially antibacterial pattern recognition receptors PGRP2, PGRP5, and PGRP6. Collectively, these results firstly highlight the roles of NOD1 deficiency in the regulation of immune-related and metabolic pathways, and the correlation between zebrafish NOD1 and histone H2A variant in the defense against S. agalactiae infection.