title: The metallothionein gene from the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei: characterization and expression in response to hypoxia.
abstract: Aquatic animals encounter variation in oxygen tension that leads to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can harm the organisms. Under these circumstances some organisms have evolved to tolerate hypoxia. In mammals, metallothioneins (MTs) protect against hypoxia-generated ROS. Here we report the MT gene from the shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (LvMT). LvMT is differentially expressed in hemocytes, intestine, gills, pleopods, heart, hepatopancreas and muscle, with the highest levels in hepatopancreas and heart. LvMT mRNA increases during hypoxia in hepatopancreas and gills after 3 h at 1.5 mg L(-1) dissolved oxygen (DO). This gene structure resembles the homologs from invertebrates and vertebrates possessing three exons, two introns and response elements for metal response transcription factor 1 (MTF-1), hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) and p53 in the promoter region. During hypoxia, HIF-1/MTF-1 might participate inducing MT to contribute towards the tolerance to ROS toxicity. MT importance in aquatic organisms may include also ROS-detoxifying processes.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo. A.C., P.O. Box 1735. Carretera a Ejido La Victoria Km. 0.6 Hermosillo, Sonora 83304, Mexico.
authors.forename: Monserrath
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Felix-Portillo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo. A.C., P.O. Box 1735. Carretera a Ejido La Victoria Km. 0.6 Hermosillo, Sonora 83304, Mexico.
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Martinez-Quintana
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo. A.C., P.O. Box 1735. Carretera a Ejido La Victoria Km. 0.6 Hermosillo, Sonora 83304, Mexico.
authors.forename: Alma B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Peregrino-Uriarte
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo. A.C., P.O. Box 1735. Carretera a Ejido La Victoria Km. 0.6 Hermosillo, Sonora 83304, Mexico. Electronic address: gyepiz@ciad.mx.
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yepiz-Plascencia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D033561:Penaeidae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein
chemical_list: D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D008668:Metallothionein
keywords: Gills; Hepatopancreas; Hypoxia; Metallothionein; Promoter response elements; Reactive oxygen species (ROS); Shrimp; mRNA