Integrated Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analyses Reveal Low-Temperature Tolerance Mechanism in Giant Freshwater Prawn .

Water temperature, as an important environmental factor, affects the growth and metabolism of aquatic animals and even their survival. The giant freshwater prawn (GFP) is a kind of warm-water species, and its survival temperature ranges from 18 °C to 34 °C. In this study, we performed transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to clarify the potential molecular mechanism of responding to low-temperature stress in adult GFP. The treatments with low-temperature stress showed that the lowest lethal temperature of the GFP was 12.3 °C. KEGG enrichment analyses revealed that the differentially expressed genes and metabolites were both enriched in lipid and energy metabolism pathways. Some key genes, such as and , as well as the content of the metabolites dodecanoic acid and alpha-linolenic acid, were altered under low-temperature stress. Importantly, the levels of unsaturated fatty acids were decreased in LS (low-temperature sensitive group) vs. Con (control group). In LT (low-temperature tolerant group) vs. Con, the genes related to fatty acid synthesis and degradation were upregulated to cope with low-temperature stress. It suggested that the genes and metabolites associated with lipid metabolism and energy metabolism play vital roles in responding to low-temperature stress. This study provided a molecular basis for the selection of a low-temperature tolerant strain.