title: Characterization and expression analysis of a chitinase gene (PmChi-4) from black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) under pathogen infection and ambient ammonia nitrogen stress.
abstract: Chitinase is a multi-gene family, which play important physiological roles in crustaceans, involved in several biological processes, including digestion, molting and defense against viruses. In the present study, a chitinase-4 gene (PmChi-4) was cloned from Penaeus monodon by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full length of PmChi-4 cDNA was 2178 bp, including an 1815 bp open reading frame (ORF) which encoded 604 amino acid residues. The predicted PmChi-4 protein was 67.7 kDa and shared 61%-88% identity with the type of Chi-4s from other crustaceans. Quantitative real-time (qRT-PCR) analysis indicated that PmChi-4 was expressed ubiquitously with the high expression level in hepatopancreas. PmChi-4 was expressed throughout the whole larvae stages, and the highest level of PmChi-4 transcripts was detected at Mysis3 stage, which indicated that PmChi-4 may be involved in larval metamorphosis. In order to know whether PmChi-4 was related to the immune response of shrimp, Streptococcus agalactiae and Vibrio harveyi were chosen to challenge the shrimp, PmChi-4 transcripts were significantly increased and reached to the maximum at 6 h in hepatopancreas and at 12 h in gill, respectively. The results suggested that PmChi-4 participated in the immune defenses to pathogen infection. Besides, the ammonia nitrogen stress treatment was also carried out, PmChi-4 transcripts were significantly decreased in hepatopancreas and gill and the result showed that PmChi-4 may be involved in ammonia nitrogen stress in P. monodon. Overall, our present study lay a foundation for further research into the biological function and regulation of chitinase in P. monodon.
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510300, China; College of Fisheries and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China.
authors.forename: Kaimin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510300, China.
authors.forename: Falin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510300, China.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510300, China.
authors.forename: Qibin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510300, China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510300, China.
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510300, China.
authors.forename: Lishi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510300, China.
authors.forename: Caiyan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Key Laboratory of South China Sea Fishery Resources Exploitation and Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture, Guangzhou 510300, China; South China Sea Resource Exploitation and Protection Collaborative Innovation Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: jiangsg@21cn.com.
authors.forename: Shigui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D060829:Arthropod Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D002688:Chitinases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000187:drug effects*; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D018978:Molting; D033561:Penaeidae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011897:Random Allocation; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013292:Streptococcus agalactiae / Q000502:physiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D014733:Vibrio / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D060829:Arthropod Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D000641:Ammonia; D002688:Chitinases
keywords: Ammonia nitrogen stress; Chitinase; Penaeus monodon; Streptococcus agalactiae; Vibrio harveyi