Transcriptomic response to ammonia-N stress in the hepatopancreas of swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus

Abstract

The swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus is an important farmed species in China. Ammonia-N represents a major physiological challenge for crab culture and the hepatopancreas plays a major role in physiological adaptation processes. To better understand the molecular mechanism of the crab in response to ammonia-N stress, we performed a transcriptome analysis in the hepatopancreas of P. trituberculatus challenged with ammonia-N stress (5 mg/L), using the high-throughput sequencing technology. In total, 52,280 unigenes were obtained from the hepatopancreas of P. trituberculatus, with an average length of 678 bp. Functional categorization and pathways showed some differentially expressed genes were involved in amino acid and nucleobase metabolism, energy metabolism, antioxidation, immune response, reproduction, moulting and material transport. The differential expression patterns of eight randomly selected annotated genes were validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Results revealed a substantial number of genes modified by ammonia-N stress and a few significant ammonia acclimation pathways, which will serve as an invaluable resource for revealing the molecular basis of physiological adaptation mechanism in P. trituberculatus.

The effects of ammonia stress exposure on protein degradation, immune response, degradation of nitrogen-containing compounds and energy metabolism of Chinese mitten crab

“…If the concentration of ammonia in the environment rises, it prevents crustaceans from getting rid of the metabolites. In addition, toxic nitrogencontaining compounds are digested in hepatopancreas, which is a signi cant organ for digestion and detoxi cation process in crabs [5,6].…”

Transcriptomic and Histological Analysis of the Greentail Prawn (Metapenaeus bennettae) Following Light Crude Oil Exposure

“…In the present study, several proteolytic enzyme transcripts lowered in abundance after exposure to crude oil contaminated sediments for 24 h. These included, carboxypeptidase B‐like , trypsin‐like serine proteinase 2 , Chymotrypsin, metalloendopeptidase , trypsin 3 , and angiotensin‐converting enzyme‐like (ACE‐like) transcripts (Figure 4A and Supporting Information, Table S2). Transcriptional changes for trypsin and carboxypeptidase B were also observed in swimming crabs ( Portunus trituberculatus ) exposed to ammonia (Si et al, 2020). Conversely, proteolytic enzyme transcripts were higher in abundance after exposure to cadmium in freshwater crabs ( Sinopotamon henanese ; Sun et al, 2016), to chromium in the Pacific white shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannamei ), and to the antifouling biocide, Irgarol, in Macrophthalmus japonicus (Park et al, 2016).…”

“…A lower CLT expression was also seen in green mussel embryos after 24 h of exposure to benzo(a)pyrene (BaP; Jiang et al, 2016). In addition, altered expression of CLT transcripts has been detected in decapods after exposure to stressors such as ammonia (Si et al, 2020; Yu et al, 2019) and cadmium (Sun et al, 2016). Glucan pattern‐recognition lipoprotein is another PRR transcript that was lower in abundance after 24 h of exposure and also plays an important role in activating immune responses, including phagocytosis, clotting cascade, and the phenoloxidase‐activating system (Lai et al, 2011; Sritunyalucksana & Söderhäll, 2000; Wang & Wang, 2013).…”

“…Nutrient and energy metabolism is centered in the hepatopancreas of decapods (Si et al, 2020; Wang et al, 2014) and is influenced by environmental stressors (Park et al, 2016; Si et al, 2020; Yu et al, 2018). In the present study, the biological function gene ontology term “proteolysis” was significantly enriched when comparing 24‐h exposure control and high treatment prawns (Figure 5A).…”

Long-Term Ammonia Toxicity in the Hepatopancreas of Swimming Crab Portunus trituberculatus: Cellular Stress Response and Tissue Damage

“…The swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus is an important aquaculture species in China. In recent years, a few studies have been conducted on the effect of acute or short-term ammonia stress in intensive culture of P. trituberculatus (Yue et al, 2010;Pan et al, 2018;Si et al, 2020), while scarce information is available in terms of long-term culture conditions. In this study, we hypothesize that long-term ammonia may impair CSR capability and result in tissue damage in the swimming crab.…”