College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, PR China.
College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, Guangdong, PR China.
Fish Shellfish Immunol. 2017 Dec;71:319-328. doi: 10.1016/j.fsi.2017.10.028. Epub 2017 Oct 16.
The banana shrimp, Fenneropenaeus merguiensis, is an important fishery species in the Indo-West Pacific region. As the shrimp is very sensitive to stressors such as ammonia stress in water, understanding the molecular mechanisms of stress tolerance in F. merguiensis is of pivotal importance for improving its farming performance. In the current study, by using the RNA sequencing platform and comparative transcriptomic analysis, we conducted a comprehensive study on the transcriptomic changes of F. merguiensis in response to ammonia stress. A total of 106,996 unique transcripts (or unigenes) with an average length of 672 bp and a N50 value of 1164 bp were recovered, and a large number of potential SSR loci in the transcriptome were identified. Totally, 55,529 transcripts can find significant hits when compared to known sequences in major databases including the nr, nt, SWISSPROT, GO, COG, and KEGG databases. Analysis of differential gene expression between the ammonia-challenged group and the control group revealed that 9190 annotated transcripts were differentially expressed upon ammonia exposure. Among them, 3712 were significantly induced while 5478 of them were repressed. Functional enrichment analysis of these differentially expressed genes further showed that 22 Gene Ontology terms and 62 KEGG pathways were significantly over-represented. Remarkably, many of the genes showing the largest magnitude of expression changes were related to cytoskeleton remodeling and immune response, highlighting the involvement of these biological processes in the ammonia stress response of F. merguiensis. Our study is the first comprehensive investigation on the transcriptomic response to ammonia stress in F. merguiensis. The genes and pathways identified here not only represent valuable genetic resources for development of molecular markers and genetic breeding studies, but open new avenues for studies on the molecular mechanisms of ammonia stress tolerance in penaeid shrimp.
斑节对虾，学名 Fenneropenaeus merguiensis，是印度-西太平洋地区重要的渔业物种。由于虾对水中氨胁迫等应激因子非常敏感，因此了解 F. merguiensis 应激耐受的分子机制对于提高其养殖性能至关重要。在本研究中，我们利用 RNA 测序平台和比较转录组学分析，对 F. merguiensis 对氨胁迫的转录组变化进行了全面研究。共回收了 106996 个具有 672bp 平均长度和 1164bp N50 值的独特转录本（或基因），并鉴定出大量潜在的 SSR 基因座。总共，55529 个转录本在与 nr、nt、SWISSPROT、GO、COG 和 KEGG 等主要数据库中的已知序列进行比较时可以找到显著的匹配。对受氨胁迫组和对照组之间差异基因表达的分析表明，9190 个注释转录本在氨暴露后差异表达。其中，3712 个被显著诱导，而 5478 个被抑制。对这些差异表达基因的功能富集分析进一步表明，22 个 GO 术语和 62 个 KEGG 途径显著富集。值得注意的是，许多表达变化幅度最大的基因与细胞骨架重塑和免疫反应有关，这突出了这些生物过程在 F. merguiensis 对氨胁迫反应中的参与。本研究是对 F. merguiensis 氨胁迫转录组反应的首次全面研究。鉴定的基因和途径不仅代表了开发分子标记和遗传育种研究的有价值的遗传资源，而且为研究对虾氨胁迫耐受的分子机制开辟了新途径。
