Roles of Crustacean Female Sex Hormone 1a in a Protandric Simultaneous Hermaphrodite Shrimp

Fang Liu,Wenyuan Shi,Haihui Ye,Lin Huang,Guizhong Wang,Zhihuang Zhu

doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.791965

Abstract

Crustacean female sex hormone (CFSH) plays a pivotal role in the development of secondary sex characteristics in dioecious crustaceans. However, until now the knowledge concerning its functions in hermaphroditic species is scanty. Herein, we explored the function of CFSH (Lvit-CFSH1a) in the peppermint shrimp Lysmata vittata, a species characterized by a rare reproductive system of protandric simultaneous hermaphroditism (PSH). Lvit-CFSH1a cDNA was 1,220-bp in length with a 720-bp ORF encoded a polypeptide of 239-aa. RT-PCR showed that Lvit-CFSH1a was exclusively expressed in the eyestalk ganglion. For female physiology, it was found that Lvit-CFSH1a was indispensable for the development of female gonopores, but it might not involve vitellogenesis of the species. For male physiology, Lvit-CFSH1a suppressed Lvit-IAG2 expression in short-term silencing experiment and recombinant protein injection experiment, but did not affect male sexual differentiation in long-term silencing experiment. In addition, silencing the Lvit-CFSH1a gene impeded individual growth in L. vittata.

Highlights

Gonochorism is the most common reproductive strategy in decapod crustacean species (Juchault, 1999)
Crustacean female sex hormone (CFSH) is a crucial hormone involved in development of femalerelated phenotypes in dioecious crustaceans (Zmora and Chung, 2014; Jiang et al, 2020)
By cloning of Lvit-CFSH1a genomic DNA (gDNA) sequence, we confirmed that transcripts of Lvit-CFSH1a and Lvit-CFSH1b were derived from different genes

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Gonochorism is the most common reproductive strategy in decapod crustacean species (Juchault, 1999). Considering that CFSH acts as an inhibitor of IAG (Liu et al, 2018), we hypothesized that Lvit-CFSH1a regulated female sexual differentiation, and involved male sexual differentiation via inhibiting Lvit-IAGs expression of the PSH species. To validate this hypothesis, we performed both short-term and long-term gene knockdown via RNA interference (RNAi). We expressed recombinant Lvit-CFSH1a mature peptide (rLvitCFSH1a) using a prokaryotic expression system, and carried out in vivo experiment to examine the effect of Lvit-CFSH1a on the expression of Lvit-IAG1, Lvit-IAG2, Lvit-Vg, and Lvit-VgR

MATERIALS AND METHODS

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

Findings

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT