Abstract
Saline-alkali water is distributed all over the world and affects the development of fisheries. The ridge tail white prawn Exopalaemon carinicauda is an economically important shrimp in China, which has excellent environmental tolerance. However, due to its complex genetic structure, there have been few studies on its alkalinity-adaptation mechanisms. In order to explore the molecular mechanisms of E. carinicauda in adapting to the alkaline water, mRNA and miRNA transcriptomes from the gills of E. carinicauda were determined. The results showed that after alkalinity stress, the structures of the gill and hepatopancreas were disorganized; however, E. carinicauda could still maintain vital signs. Transcriptome results showed that ATP binding protein and carbonic anhydrase played an important role in alkalinity-adaptation. At the same time, a large number of immune-related genes were up-regulated, which protect E. carinicauda from bacterial infection. MiRNAs also played an important role in alkalinity-adaptation. A total of 24 miRNAs were identified as differentially expressed after alkalinity stress, and up-regulated miRNAs might active the GnRH signaling pathway and accelerate the synthesis and secretion of aldosterone, which might maintain the balance of osmotic pressure in E. carinicauda to adapt to alkaline environment. These results provide a better understanding of the alkalinity-adaptation mechanism of economic aquatic animals and provide theoretical basis for breeding in the future.
Highlights
Saline-alkali water is distributed all over the world with high alkalinity, high salinity, high pH, and complex ion composition
Among all differentially expressed genes (DEGs), 96 DEGs were identified after 24 h of alkaline stress; among them, 59 genes were up-regulated and 40 genes were down-regulated; 272 DEGs were identified after 48 h of alkalinity stress, among which 147 genes were up-regulated and 125 genes were down regulated (Figure 4A)
The results of this study showed that the gill tissue of E. carinicauda was damaged under alkaline stress, the gill filaments arranged disorderly, the stratum corneum epithelial cells were necrotic and shedding, and the capillary network ruptured with increasing alkalinity stress, which seriously affected the osmotic pressure regulation function of the gill tissue and eventually resulted in the death of E. carinicauda
Summary
Saline-alkali water is distributed all over the world with high alkalinity, high salinity, high pH, and complex ion composition. There were 45.87 million hm of saline-alkali water in China, which is distributed across 19 provinces and autonomous regions. Alkalinity Adaptation of Exopalaemon carinicauda water resource, which greatly hinders the utilization of salinealkali water resources. In order to make the best use of saline-alkali water resources, an increasing amount of salinealkali water has been used for fisheries. Underground brackish water, brackish water, and surface brackish water have been used for aquaculture of prawns, freshwater fish, sea cucumbers, and flatfish in China’s Yellow River Delta, Liao River Delta, Hebei, Tianjin, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, and other inland saline-alkali water areas. To effectively use saline-alkali water resources, it is urgent to breed more saline-alkali-resistant aquaculture species and study the saline-alkali stress mechanism of aquatic organisms
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