Shen Chenchen, Tang Dan, Zhang Yiping, Wu Lv, Luo Yaqi, Tang Boping, Wang Zhengfei
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Bioresources of Saline Soils, Jiangsu Synthetic Innovation Center for Coastal Bio-Agriculture, Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Wetland Bioresources and Environmental Protection, School of Wetlands, Yancheng Teachers University, Yancheng, 224001, Jiangsu, China.
College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211800, Jiangsu, China.
Genes Genomics. 2021 May;43(5):479-490. doi: 10.1007/s13258-021-01065-4. Epub 2021 Mar 10.
Olfaction plays a central role in mating, spawning, obtaining food and escaping predators, which is essential for survival and reproduction of animals. The nature of the olfactory perception in crabs, which is a major group of crustaceans, has remained elusive.
This project aims to explore the molecular mechanism of olfaction in crabs and further improve our understanding of olfactory perception in crustaceans.
The olfactory receptors and ingestion-related gene expression in Eriocheir japonica sinensis were studied by transcriptomic techniques. The de novo assembly, annotation and functional evaluation were performed with bioinformatics tools.
A series of chemosensory receptors associated with olfaction were identified including 33 EsIRs, 24 EsIGluRs, 58 EsVIGluRs, 1 EsOR and 1 EsGC-D. We found IRs were key odorant receptors demonstrating a specific species evolutionary trend in crustaceans. Furthermore, we identified ORs in E. j. sinensis and Litopenaeus vannamei. The incomplete EsOR and LvOR1 structures implied that ORs exist in crustaceans, and may have been degenerated or even lost in the olfactory evolutionary process. In addition, comparative transcriptome analysises demonstrated two possible olfactory transduction pathways of E. j. sinensis: the cGMP-mediated olfactory pathway related to vegetable odor molecules and the cAMP-mediated olfactory pathway related to meat odor molecules. The above results were consistent with its omnivorous ingestion of E. j. sinensis.
Our study revealed the unique olfactory molecular mechanism of omnivorous crabs and provided valuable information for further functional research on the chemoreception mechanisms in crustaceans.
嗅觉在交配、产卵、获取食物和躲避捕食者方面发挥着核心作用，这对动物的生存和繁殖至关重要。作为甲壳类动物的主要群体，螃蟹嗅觉感知的本质一直难以捉摸。
本项目旨在探索螃蟹嗅觉的分子机制，并进一步增进我们对甲壳类动物嗅觉感知的理解。
采用转录组技术研究中华绒螯蟹的嗅觉受体和与摄食相关的基因表达。使用生物信息学工具进行从头组装、注释和功能评估。
鉴定出一系列与嗅觉相关的化学感应受体，包括33个中华绒螯蟹离子型受体（EsIRs）、24个中华绒螯蟹离子型谷氨酸受体（EsIGluRs）、58个中华绒螯蟹类离子型谷氨酸受体（EsVIGluRs）、1个中华绒螯蟹嗅觉受体（EsOR）和1个中华绒螯蟹鸟苷酸环化酶-D（EsGC-D）。我们发现离子型受体是关键的气味受体，在甲壳类动物中呈现出特定的物种进化趋势。此外，我们在中华绒螯蟹和凡纳滨对虾中鉴定出了嗅觉受体。中华绒螯蟹嗅觉受体（EsOR）和凡纳滨对虾嗅觉受体1（LvOR1）的不完整结构表明嗅觉受体存在于甲壳类动物中，并且可能在嗅觉进化过程中已经退化甚至丢失。此外，比较转录组分析表明中华绒螯蟹存在两种可能的嗅觉转导途径：与植物气味分子相关的环鸟苷酸（cGMP）介导的嗅觉途径和与肉类气味分子相关的环磷酸腺苷（cAMP）介导的嗅觉途径。上述结果与其杂食性摄食习性相符。
我们的研究揭示了杂食性螃蟹独特的嗅觉分子机制，并为进一步开展甲壳类动物化学感受机制的功能研究提供了有价值的信息。
