No abstract

The oriental river prawn, Macrobrachium nipponense, is an important commercial aquaculture resource in China. During breeding season, short ovary maturation cycles of female prawns cause multi-generation reunions in ponds and affect the growth of females representing individual miniaturization (known as autumn -propagation). These reproductive characteristics pose problems for in large - scale farming. To date, the molecular mechanisms of reproduction regulation of M. nipponense remain unclear. To address this issue, we performed transcriptome sequencing and gene expression analyses of eyestalk and cerebral ganglia of female M. nipponense during breeding and non-breeding seasons. Differentially expressed gene enrichment analysis results revealed several important reproduction related terms and signaling pathways, such as “photoreceptor activity”, “structural constituent of cuticle” and “G-protein coupled receptor activity”. The following six key genes from the transcriptome were predicted to mediate environmental factors regulating reproduction of M. nipponense: neuroparsin, neuropeptide F II, orcokinin II, crustacean cardioactive peptide, pigment-dispersing hormone 3 and tachykinin. These results will contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of reproduction of oriental river prawns. Further detailed functional analyses of the candidate reproduction regulation related neuropeptides are needed to shed light on the mechanisms of reproduction of crustacean.

A full‐length complementary DNA of the crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP) was cloned from the eyestalk of the oriental river prawn, Macrobrachium nipponense, and named Mn‐CCAP. Experimental treatment was set to decrease dissolved oxygen levels and generate hypoxic culture conditions. The Mn‐CCAP expression profile was different in the brain and eyestalk. Results suggested Mn‐CCAP responds strongly to hypoxia‐induced oxidative stress. Different expression profiles in the brain and eyestalk indicate that these two tissues may respond in different ways to hypoxia.