Down-Regulation of Lipid Metabolism in the Hepatopancreas of Shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei upon Light and Heavy Infection of Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei: A Comparative Proteomic Study

Abstract

Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP) is the pathogen of hepatopancreatic microsporidiosis (HPM) in shrimp. The diseased shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei exhibits a slow growth syndrome, which causes severe economic losses. Herein, 4D label-free quantitative proteomics was employed to analyze the hepatopancreas of L. vannamei with a light (EHPptp2 < 103 copies/50 ng hpDNA, L group) and heavy (EHPptp2 > 104 copies/50 ng hpDNA, H group) load of EHP to better understand the pathogenesis of HPM. Exactly 786 (L group) and 1056 (H group) differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) versus the EHP-free (C group) control were mainly clustered to lipid metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and energy production processing. Compared with the L group, the H group exhibited down-regulation significantly in lipid metabolism, especially in the elongation and degradation of fatty acid, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acid, metabolism of α-linolenic acid, sphingolipid, and glycerolipid, as well as juvenile hormone (JH) degradation. Expression pattern analysis showed that the degree of infection was positively correlated with metabolic change. About 479 EHP proteins were detected in infected shrimps, including 95 predicted transporters. These findings suggest that EHP infection induced the consumption of storage lipids and the entire down-regulation of lipid metabolism and the coupling energy production, in addition to the hormone metabolism disorder. These were ultimately responsible for the stunted growth.

Enterocytozoon hepatopenaeiProliferate inProcambarus clarkii: A Warning for Crayfish and Shrimp Aquaculture

“…The color of hepatopancreas and intestine turned white, which is a signal of EHP infection. This phenomenon may be related to lipid reduction in the crab and shrimp (Ding, 2021; Wu et al, 2022), and the presence of a large number of spores in the P. clarkii (Fig. 1 B & C; Fig.…”

“…The primer sets targeting universal for microsporidia and EHP polar tube protein 2 ( EHPptp2 ) were used to identify the infection of EHP (Zhu et al, 1993; Baker et al, 1995; Wang et al, 2021; Wu et al, 2022). Two pairs of primers amplifying mitochondrial genes were employed to identify the crayfish (Folmer et al, 1994; Li et al, 2015).…”

Possible seasonal and diurnal modulation of Gammarus pulex (Crustacea, Amphipoda) drift by microsporidian parasites

“…Horizontally transmitted parasites are generally linked to high virulence, which might reduce host fitness. For instance, Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei, a microsporidian belonging to the Enterocytozoonida clade, infects the hepatopancreas of various shrimps inducing storage consumption of lipids, downregulation of lipid metabolism and thus energy production 85 . It is, therefore, plausible that a reduction in fitness might occur and hinder the ability of G. pulex to withstand water flow and, thus, be more likely found in the drift.…”

Identification of Potential Druggable Targets and Structure-Based Virtual Screening for Drug-like Molecules against the Shrimp Pathogen Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei

“…The presence of EHP spores in the hepatopancreas and midgut indicates an oral route of transmission, which could either result from immersion, swallowing pathogen-infected water, active cannibalism, or the consumption of infected shrimp [ 3 , 5 ]. A recent analysis of the 3.26 Mbp EHP genome revealed that the pathogen could not generate ATP either viaglycolysis or oxidative phosphorylation [ 6 , 7 ]. EHP, therefore, obtains ATP and other purine nucleotides for energy and biosynthesis from their host by using nucleotide transport (NTT) proteins, which are acquired via lateral gene transfer [ 8 ].…”