Fig. 4

a DEGs involved in autophagy at 24 hpi by RNAseq analysis of mRNA expression levels in the WT and CD44a^−/−-14del zebrafish larvae infected with E. piscicida. b Validation of DEGs involved in autophagy at 24 hpi by qRT-PCR. c Immunoblotting analysis and quantification of p62 and LC3b levels in the WT and CD44a^−/−-14del zebrafish larvae infected with E. piscicida collected at 24 hpi. WB were repeated at least three times, and shown were the representative data. d mRNA levels of CD44a and autophagy-related genes in the WT and CD44a^−/−-14del zebrafish larvae without or with the treatment of the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ). e Zebrafish larvae from the WT and CD44a^−/−-14del mutants without or with the treatment of CQ were collected at the indicated post-infection time points, and homogenates were made for CFU counts. f Larval survival analysis in the WT and CD44a^−/−-14del zebrafish larvae without or with the treatment of CQ (n = 60 for each group). g Zebrafish larvae microinjected with FLAG, CD44a_tv1 or CD44a_tv2 without or with the treatment of rapamycin or zebrafish larvae from the WT and CD44a^−/−-14del mutants without or with the treatment of rapamycin were collected at the indicated post-infection time points, and homogenates were made for CFU counts. h Larval survival analysis for zebrafish larvae microinjected with FLAG, CD44a_tv1 or CD44a_tv2 without or with the treatment of rapamycin (n = 60 for each group). i Larval survival analysis for zebrafish larvae from the WT and CD44a^−/−-14del mutants without or with the treatment of rapamycin (n = 60 for each group). Data are presented as mean values ± SD (n = 3) and p values by Student’s t test are shown in (b–e, g). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01; ns not significant.