Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, China.
Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao 266000, China.
Genes (Basel). 2021 Apr 21;12(5):618. doi: 10.3390/genes12050618.
A mutant of the ridgetail white prawn, which exhibited rare orange-red body color with a higher level of free astaxanthin (ASTX) concentration than that in the wild-type prawn, was obtained in our lab. In order to understand the underlying mechanism for the existence of a high level of free astaxanthin, transcriptome analysis was performed to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the mutant and wild-type prawns. A total of 78,224 unigenes were obtained, and 1863 were identified as DEGs, in which 902 unigenes showed higher expression levels, while 961 unigenes presented lower expression levels in the mutant in comparison with the wild-type prawns. Based on Gene Ontology analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis, as well as further investigation of annotated DEGs, we found that the biological processes related to astaxanthin binding, transport, and metabolism presented significant differences between the mutant and the wild-type prawns. Some genes related to these processes, including crustacyanin, apolipoprotein D (ApoD), cathepsin, and cuticle proteins, were identified as DEGs between the two types of prawns. These data may provide important information for us to understand the molecular mechanism of the existence of a high level of free astaxanthin in the prawn.
在我们实验室中获得了一种脊尾白虾的突变体，其表现出罕见的橙红色体色，游离虾青素（ASTX）浓度比野生型虾更高。为了了解高水平游离虾青素存在的潜在机制，我们进行了转录组分析，以鉴定突变体和野生型虾之间差异表达的基因（DEGs）。共获得了 78224 个 unigenes，其中 1863 个被鉴定为 DEGs，与野生型虾相比，902 个 unigenes表现出更高的表达水平，而 961 个 unigenes表现出更低的表达水平。基于基因本体论分析和京都基因与基因组百科全书分析，以及对注释 DEGs 的进一步研究，我们发现与虾青素结合、运输和代谢相关的生物学过程在突变体和野生型虾之间存在显著差异。一些与这些过程相关的基因，包括甲壳质蛋白、载脂蛋白 D（ApoD）、组织蛋白酶和表皮蛋白，被鉴定为两种虾之间的 DEGs。这些数据可能为我们理解虾中高水平游离虾青素存在的分子机制提供重要信息。
