Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals the Adaptation Mechanism to High Salinity in Litopenaeus vannamei

Abstract

As an euryhaline commercial species, the Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei can be cultured under a wide range of salinities. However, different families showed various tolerance to high salinity. In order to elucidate the underlying mechanisms, a comparative transcriptome approach was used to find the differences between tolerant families and susceptible families at the transcriptional level. There were 98 and 58 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between tolerant and susceptible families under normal and high-salinity conditions, respectively. The DEGs upregulated in tolerant families were mostly enriched in the biological process of response to a stimulus. Nine crustacyanin (CRCN)-encoding genes in this Gene Ontology (GO) term showed significantly higher expression levels in the tolerant families than those in susceptible families, suggesting that crustacyanins might play important roles in shrimp tolerance to high salinity. After high-salinity treatment, a total of 233 and 109 DEGs were identified from tolerant and susceptible families, respectively. Serine-type endopeptidase activity, serine-type peptidase activity, and serine hydrolase activity were the top three GO terms in the tolerant families after high-salinity treatment. Further analysis illustrated that these three GO terms were also the top three enriched GO terms for the DEGs specifically upregulated in the tolerant families after high-salinity stress. Meanwhile, four genes annotated in serine proteases families in these three GO terms were upregulated in the tolerant families but not changed in the susceptible families after high-salinity stress. These results indicated that serine proteases should play key roles in shrimp tolerance to high salinity. This study provides important information for understanding the mechanism of shrimp tolerance to high-salinity stress and would be useful for further molecular breeding of shrimp varieties with high-salinity tolerance.

Biogeochemical Characteristics of Sedimentary Organic Matter in Coastal Waters of a Mariculture Area: The Big Impact of Bay Scallop Farming

“…In this study, the sedimentation rates in the SFA, 0.88-0.90 cm yr −1 , were at a relatively high level, significantly higher than those observed in the central Bohai Sea (0.094-0.17 cm yr −1 ) and the coastal waters of the East China Sea (<0.2 cm yr −1 ), and comparable to those observed in other Chinese aquaculture areas along the west coastline of the Yellow Sea, e.g., Sanggou Bay (0.66 cm yr −1 ) and Jiaozhou Bay (0.64-1.74 cm yr −1 ) [19,[73][74][75][76][77][78].…”

Recent advances in crustacean genomics and their potential application in aquaculture

“…3,75 Many genes and pathways associated with tolerance to environmental stressors have been studied for their effects on the productivity of aquaculture species. 76,77 For instance, a comparison between shrimp families with tolerance and susceptibility under high salinity environments led to the identification of several tolerance-related genes and pathways, 78 which can provide insight into clarifying the mechanism for shrimp to adapt the high salinity environments and accelerate the genetic breeding process through genetic assisted selection.…”

“…159 To assess the resistance to environmental stress, multiple studies have focused on genes involved in salinity and temperature tolerance traits. 78,160,161 Many crustaceans are tolerant to a wide range of salinities and are therefore widely distributed across different types of habitats. GWAS revealed that several candidate genes (e.g., crustacyanin) play key roles in the high salinity adaptation of P. vannamei, 78 whereas the ammonium transporter and DNA mismatch repair protein genes are related to low salinity resistance.…”

“…78,160,161 Many crustaceans are tolerant to a wide range of salinities and are therefore widely distributed across different types of habitats. GWAS revealed that several candidate genes (e.g., crustacyanin) play key roles in the high salinity adaptation of P. vannamei, 78 whereas the ammonium transporter and DNA mismatch repair protein genes are related to low salinity resistance. 161 The identification of these resistance genes will pave the way for further molecular breeding of economic crustaceans.…”

“…Based on association analyses and transcriptomic comparison, PI3K and ALF6 have been identified to be significantly associated with acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease resistance, 145 and several biomarker genes for Vibrio resistance have been identified in P. vannamei 159 . To assess the resistance to environmental stress, multiple studies have focused on genes involved in salinity and temperature tolerance traits 78,160,161 . Many crustaceans are tolerant to a wide range of salinities and are therefore widely distributed across different types of habitats.…”