Transcriptomic analysis of Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei, Boone 1931) in response to acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus

• Published in: PloS one 2019-08, Vol.14 (8), p.e0220993
• Main Authors: Velázquez-Lizárraga, Adrián E, Juárez-Morales, José Luis, Racotta, Ilie S, Villarreal-Colmenares, Humberto, Valdes-Lopez, Oswaldo, Luna-González, Antonio, Rodríguez-Jaramillo, Carmen, Estrada, Norma, Ascencio, Felipe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Apoptosis; Aquaculture; Aquaculture industry; Arthropod Proteins - biosynthesis; B cells; Bacteria; Bacterial infections; Biological activity; Biology and Life Sciences; Carbohydrates; Cell activation; Cell death; Chitin; Cloning; Communicable animal diseases; Communicable diseases; Computer and Information Sciences; Decapoda; Development and progression; Disease; Epithelial cells; Farms; Gene expression; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation; Gene sequencing; Genes; Genetic aspects; Health aspects; Hemocytes; Hepatopancreas; Hepatopancreas - metabolism; Hepatopancreas - microbiology; Hypoxia; Immunology; Infection; Infections; Infectious diseases; Litopenaeus vannamei; Messenger RNA; Metabolic rate; Metabolism; Mortality; Necrosis; Novels; Oxidation; Oxidation-reduction reactions; Pathogenesis; Penaeidae - metabolism; Penaeidae - microbiology; Physiology; Proteins; RNA; RNA sequencing; Salinity; Seafood industry; Shellfish; Shellfish farming; Shrimps (Animals); Signal transduction; Submerging; Toxins; Vibrio infections; Vibrio Infections - metabolism; Vibrio Infections - microbiology; Vibrio parahaemolyticus; Waterborne diseases; Wetlands
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220993

Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND), caused by marine bacteria Vibrio Parahaemolyticus, is a huge problem in shrimp farms. The V. parahaemolyticus infecting material is contained in a plasmid which encodes for the lethal toxins PirABVp, whose primary target tissue is the hepatopancreas, causing sloughing of epithelial cells, necrosis, and massive hemocyte infiltration. To get a better understanding of the hepatopancreas response during AHPND, juvenile shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei were infected by immersion with V. parahaemolyticus. We performed transcriptomic mRNA sequencing of infected shrimp hepatopancreas, at 24 hours post-infection, to identify novel differentially expressed genes a total of 174,098 transcripts were examined of which 915 transcripts were found differentially expressed after comparative transcriptomic analysis: 442 up-regulated and 473 down-regulated transcripts. Gene Ontology term enrichment analysis for up-regulated transcripts includes metabolic process, regulation of programmed cell death, carbohydrate metabolic process, and biological adhesion, whereas for down-regulated transcripts include, microtubule-based process, cell activation, and chitin metabolic process. The analysis of protein- protein network between up and down-regulated genes indicates that the first gene interactions are connected to oxidation-processes and sarcomere organization. Additionally, protein-protein networks analysis identified 20-top highly connected hub nodes. Based on their immunological or metabolic function, ten candidate transcripts were selected to measure their mRNA relative expression levels in AHPND infected shrimp hepatopancreas by RT-qPCR. Our results indicate a close connection between the immune and metabolism systems during AHPND infection. Our RNA-Seq and RT-qPCR data provide the possible immunological and physiological scenario as well as the molecular pathways that take place in the shrimp hepatopancreas in response to an infectious disease.