Effect of changes in the activity of Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway on the growth performance, immunity and transcriptome response in Litopenaeus vannamei

Abstract

Our previous studies on Wnt/β-catenin signalling have shown that it plays a positive role in the immunity of Litopenaeus vannamei. In this study, the effects of changes in Wnt/β-catenin signalling activity on growth performance, immunity and transcriptomes were investigated in L. vannamei. Wnt/β-catenin signalling was inhibited by injection with IWR-1 and activated by injection with TWS119. IWR-1 and TWS119 injection significantly reduced and increased, respectively, the survival rates of L. vannamei in response to white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection. Compared with the control group, the growth performance of L. vannamei significantly decreased after feeding with IWR-1 but was not notably changed after feeding with TWS119. The L. vannamei fed IWR-1 had a significantly reduced survival rate after WSSV infection but there were no notable effects after Vibrio parahemolyticus infection. The L.vannamei fed TWS119 had a significantly increased survival rate after WSSV and Vibrio parahemolyticus infection. The catalase (CAT) of the IWR-1-fed L. vannamei showed decreased activity, while the alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity of the TWS119-fed L. vannamei was significantly increased, in comparison to the control group. Transcriptome analysis identified 272 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (19 up-regulated and 253 down-regulated) in the IWR-1-fed L. vannamei and 430 DEGs (31 up-regulated and 399 down-regulated) in TWS119-fed L. vannamei, when compared with the control group. The functional annotation and enriched pathway results showed that the DEGs were mainly involved in lipid metabolism, transport and catabolism and carbohydrate metabolism. All of the results indicated that growth performance and immunity of L. vannamei could be regulated through changing the Wnt/β-catenin signalling activity, which was probably due to alterations at the metabolic level. The findings in this study provide some insights for exploiting immunostimulants in aquaculture.