Dynamic changes in gene expression during vitellogenic stages of the white shrimp: Fenneropenaeus merguiensis de Man

摘要

Ovarian maturation is a crucial step for shrimp brood stock. A suppressive subtractive hybridization was used to identify differentially expressed genes in the ovaries during vitellogenesis of Fenneropenaeus merguiensis. Three- to sevenfold up-regulated genes were selected. A blast search identified nine unique genes. The genes that may be involved in ovarian maturation, namely translationally controlled tumour protein (TCTP), heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), H-L(3)MBT-LIKE, shrimp ovarian peritrophin (SOP), vitellin (Vn), thrombospondin (TSP) and ribosomal protein L10a (RPL10a), were further studied. The transcripts of HSP70, TCTP, SOP and RPL10a in the ovary showed their highest expression in the early stage and declined in the later stages. In contrast, the transcripts of the H-L(3)MBT-LIKE, TSP and Vn genes increased from the early stage to be significantly up-regulated during the late stage. A comparison of gene expression among organs during the vitellogenesis showed that the transcripts of HSP70, SOP, H-L(3)MBT-LIKE and TSP were down-regulated in the brain, intestine, hepatopancreas and lymphoid (except for TSP) when compared with their expression in shrimp with non-developed ovaries. The mRNA of TCTP and RPL10a was significantly over-expressed in the lymphoid and heart, whereas TCTP transcripts were significantly down-regulated in the brain during the vitellogenesis. The molecular behaviour of the transcripts in this study may, in the future, lead to an ability to stimulate the ovarian development in shrimp.