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Expression of the prospective mesoderm genes twist, snail, and mef2 in penaeid shrimp

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Abstract

In penaeid shrimp, mesoderm forms from two sources: naupliar mesoderm founder cells, which invaginate during gastrulation, and posterior mesodermal stem cells called mesoteloblasts, which undergo characteristic teloblastic divisions. The primordial mesoteloblast descends from the ventral mesendoblast, which arrests in cell division at the 32-cell stage and ingresses with its sister dorsal mesendoblast prior to naupliar mesoderm invagination. The naupliar mesoderm forms the muscles of the naupliar appendages (first and second antennae and mandibles), while the mesoteloblasts form the mesoderm, including the muscles, of subsequently formed posterior segments. To better understand the mechanism of mesoderm and muscle formation in penaeid shrimp, twist, snail, and mef2 cDNAs were identified from transcriptomes of Penaeus vannamei, P. japonicus, P. chinensis, and P. monodon. A single Twist ortholog was found, with strong inferred amino acid conservation across all three species. Multiple Snail protein variants were detected, which clustered in a phylogenetic tree with other decapod crustacean Snail sequences. Two closely-related mef2 variants were found in P. vannamei. The developmental mRNA expression of these genes was studied by qPCR in P. vannamei embryos, larvae, and postlarvae. Expression of Pv-twist and Pv-snail began during the limb bud stage and continued through larval stages to the postlarva. Surprisingly, Pv-mef2 expression was found in all stages from the zygote to the postlarva, with the highest expression in the limb bud and protozoeal stages. The results add comparative data on the development of anterior and posterior mesoderm in malacostracan crustaceans, and should stimulate further studies on mesoderm and muscle development in penaeid shrimp.

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Abbreviations

qPCR:

Quantitative real-time PCR

twi :

Twi twist nucleic acid, Twist protein

sna :

Sna snail nucleic acid, Snail protein

mef2:

Mef2 myocyte enhancer factor 2 nucleic acid, mef2 protein

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Acknowledgments

This work was originally undertaken within the CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research Capability Development Fund, CSIRO Office of the Chief Executive Payne Scott Award Program to MJS, and CSIRO Food Futures Flagship Cluster on “Sex ratio and sterility for commercial animal production” to PLH. Further support was provided by a FRCE Research Grant from Central Michigan University.

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Author notes

  1. Jiankai Wei

    Present address: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Marine Genetics and Breeding, College of Marine Life Sciences, Ocean University of China, 5 Yushan Road, Qingdao, 266003, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Jiankai Wei & Jianhai Xiang

  2. Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China

    Jiankai Wei & Jianhai Xiang

  3. Department of Biology, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, 48859, USA

    Richard Samuel Elliot Glaves & Philip L. Hertzler

  4. ARC Research Hub for Advanced Prawn Breeding, Integrated Sustainable Aquaculture Production, Agriculture Flagship, CSIRO, Queensland Bioscience Precinct, 306 Carmody Road, St., Lucia, QLD, 4067, Australia

    Melony J. Sellars

Authors
  1. Jiankai Wei
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  2. Richard Samuel Elliot Glaves
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  3. Melony J. Sellars
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  4. Jianhai Xiang
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  5. Philip L. Hertzler
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip L. Hertzler.

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Communicated by Siegfried Roth

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Wei, J., Glaves, R.S.E., Sellars, M.J. et al. Expression of the prospective mesoderm genes twist, snail, and mef2 in penaeid shrimp. Dev Genes Evol 226, 317–324 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-016-0544-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-016-0544-5

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