Transcriptome analysis of hepatopancraes of Procambarus clarkii challenged with polyriboinosinic polyribocytidylic acid (poly I:C).

Crustacean hepatopancreas regulates metabolic processes, biogenesis and innate immune processes, and the knowledge on its immune genes are crucial to understand antimicrobial mechanisms. In this study, we reported the transcriptomic profile of Procambarus clarkii hepatopancreas after poly I:C administration using high-throughput sequencing. Following de novo assembly 56,716 unigene sequences with an average length of 810 bp was obtained. The unigene sequences were annotated to three ontologies including cellular components, biological processes and molecular functions, further 56,716 unigene sequences were mapped to 25 COG categories. A total of 2497 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified following the comparative analysis between poly I:C treated and control group, and then KEGG enrichment analysis were performed to detect immune related pathways. Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction showed that the selected DEGs significantly up-regulated following poly I:C administration in comparison to control group. The transcriptomic sequence information will improve the knowledge of this economically important crustacean, and will shed light on its antiviral immune mechanisms.