Transcriptome analysis on the exoskeleton formation in early developmetal stages and reconstruction scenario in growth-moulting in Litopenaeus vannamei

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 1098 - 15
• Main Authors: Gao, Yi, Wei, Jiankai, Yuan, Jianbo, Zhang, Xiaojun, Li, Fuhua, Xiang, Jianhai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 24.04.2017; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 14/63; 631/337/2019; 704/829/826; Animal Shells - growth & development; Animals; Aquaculture; Calcification; Crustaceans; Developmental stages; Exoskeleton; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Genomes; Humanities and Social Sciences; Litopenaeus vannamei; Molecular Sequence Annotation; Molting; multidisciplinary; Penaeidae - growth & development; Reabsorption; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sequence Analysis, RNA; Shellfish; Transcription
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-01220-6

Exoskeleton construction is an important issue in shrimp. To better understand the molecular mechanism of exoskeleton formation, development and reconstruction, the transcriptome of the entire developmental process in Litopenaeus vannamei , including nine early developmental stages and eight adult-moulting stages, was sequenced and analysed using Illumina RNA-seq technology. A total of 117,539 unigenes were obtained, with 41.2% unigenes predicting the full-length coding sequence. Gene Ontology, Clusters of Orthologous Group (COG), the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis and functional annotation of all unigenes gave a better understanding of the exoskeleton developmental process in L. vannamei . As a result, more than six hundred unigenes related to exoskeleton development were identified both in the early developmental stages and adult-moulting. A cascade of sequential expression events of exoskeleton-related genes were summarized, including exoskeleton formation, regulation, synthesis, degradation, mineral absorption/reabsorption, calcification and hardening. This new insight on major transcriptional events provide a deep understanding for exoskeleton formation and reconstruction in L. vannamei . In conclusion, this is the first study that characterized the integrated transcriptomic profiles cover the entire exoskeleton development from zygote to adult-moulting in a crustacean, and these findings will serve as significant references for exoskeleton developmental biology and aquaculture research.