A transcriptomic scan for potential candidate genes involved in osmoregulation in an obligate freshwater palaemonid prawn (Macrobrachium australiense)

Background Understanding the genomic basis of osmoregulation (candidate genes and/or molecular mechanisms controlling the phenotype) addresses one of the fundamental questions in evolutionary ecology. Species distributions and adaptive radiations are thought to be controlled by environmental salinit...

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Main Authors: Azam Moshtaghi, Md. Lifat Rahi, Viet Tuan Nguyen, Peter B. Mather, David A. Hurwood
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: PeerJ Inc. 2016-10-01
Series:PeerJ
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Online Access:https://peerj.com/articles/2520.pdf
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author Azam Moshtaghi
Md. Lifat Rahi
Viet Tuan Nguyen
Peter B. Mather
David A. Hurwood
author_facet Azam Moshtaghi
Md. Lifat Rahi
Viet Tuan Nguyen
Peter B. Mather
David A. Hurwood
author_sort Azam Moshtaghi
collection DOAJ
description Background Understanding the genomic basis of osmoregulation (candidate genes and/or molecular mechanisms controlling the phenotype) addresses one of the fundamental questions in evolutionary ecology. Species distributions and adaptive radiations are thought to be controlled by environmental salinity levels, and efficient osmoregulatory (ionic balance) ability is the main mechanism to overcome the problems related to environmental salinity gradients. Methods To better understand how osmoregulatory performance in freshwater (FW) crustaceans allow individuals to acclimate and adapt to raised salinity conditions, here we (i), reviewed the literature on genes that have been identified to be associated with osmoregulation in FW crustaceans, and (ii), performed a transcriptomic analysis using cDNA libraries developed from mRNA isolated from three important osmoregulatory tissues (gill, antennal gland, hepatopancreas) and total mRNA from post larvae taken from the freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium australiense using Illumina deep sequencing technology. This species was targeted because it can complete its life cycle totally in freshwater but, like many Macrobrachium sp., can also tolerate brackish water conditions and hence should have genes associated with tolerance of both FW and saline conditions. Results We obtained between 55.4 and 65.2 million Illumina read pairs from four cDNA libraries. Overall, paired end sequences assembled into a total of 125,196 non-redundant contigs (≥200 bp) with an N50 length of 2,282 bp and an average contig length of 968 bp. Transcriptomic analysis of M. australiense identified 32 different gene families that were potentially involved with osmoregulatory capacity. A total of 32,597 transcripts were specified with gene ontology (GO) terms identified on the basis of GO categories. Abundance estimation of expressed genes based on TPM (transcript per million) ≥20 showed 1625 transcripts commonly expressed in all four libraries. Among the top 10 genes expressed in four tissue libraries associated with osmoregulation, arginine kinase and Na+/K+- ATPase showed the highest transcript copy number with 7098 and 660, respectively in gill which is considered to be the most important organ involved in osmoregulation. Discussion The current study provides the first broad transcriptome from M. australiense using next generation sequencing and identifies potential candidate genes involved in salinity tolerance and osmoregulation that can provide a foundation for investigating osmoregulatory capacity in a wide variety of freshwater crustaceans.
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spelling doaj.art-15bc046ad4c54d62b491b8a1d0445ab12023-12-03T11:01:18ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592016-10-014e252010.7717/peerj.2520A transcriptomic scan for potential candidate genes involved in osmoregulation in an obligate freshwater palaemonid prawn (Macrobrachium australiense)Azam Moshtaghi0Md. Lifat Rahi1Viet Tuan Nguyen2Peter B. Mather3David A. Hurwood4Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, AustraliaScience and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, AustraliaSchool of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Queensland, AustraliaScience and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, AustraliaScience and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, AustraliaBackground Understanding the genomic basis of osmoregulation (candidate genes and/or molecular mechanisms controlling the phenotype) addresses one of the fundamental questions in evolutionary ecology. Species distributions and adaptive radiations are thought to be controlled by environmental salinity levels, and efficient osmoregulatory (ionic balance) ability is the main mechanism to overcome the problems related to environmental salinity gradients. Methods To better understand how osmoregulatory performance in freshwater (FW) crustaceans allow individuals to acclimate and adapt to raised salinity conditions, here we (i), reviewed the literature on genes that have been identified to be associated with osmoregulation in FW crustaceans, and (ii), performed a transcriptomic analysis using cDNA libraries developed from mRNA isolated from three important osmoregulatory tissues (gill, antennal gland, hepatopancreas) and total mRNA from post larvae taken from the freshwater prawn, Macrobrachium australiense using Illumina deep sequencing technology. This species was targeted because it can complete its life cycle totally in freshwater but, like many Macrobrachium sp., can also tolerate brackish water conditions and hence should have genes associated with tolerance of both FW and saline conditions. Results We obtained between 55.4 and 65.2 million Illumina read pairs from four cDNA libraries. Overall, paired end sequences assembled into a total of 125,196 non-redundant contigs (≥200 bp) with an N50 length of 2,282 bp and an average contig length of 968 bp. Transcriptomic analysis of M. australiense identified 32 different gene families that were potentially involved with osmoregulatory capacity. A total of 32,597 transcripts were specified with gene ontology (GO) terms identified on the basis of GO categories. Abundance estimation of expressed genes based on TPM (transcript per million) ≥20 showed 1625 transcripts commonly expressed in all four libraries. Among the top 10 genes expressed in four tissue libraries associated with osmoregulation, arginine kinase and Na+/K+- ATPase showed the highest transcript copy number with 7098 and 660, respectively in gill which is considered to be the most important organ involved in osmoregulation. Discussion The current study provides the first broad transcriptome from M. australiense using next generation sequencing and identifies potential candidate genes involved in salinity tolerance and osmoregulation that can provide a foundation for investigating osmoregulatory capacity in a wide variety of freshwater crustaceans.https://peerj.com/articles/2520.pdfTranscriptomeOsmoregulationMacrobrachium australienseHepatopancreasIlluminaAntennal gland
spellingShingle Azam Moshtaghi
Md. Lifat Rahi
Viet Tuan Nguyen
Peter B. Mather
David A. Hurwood
A transcriptomic scan for potential candidate genes involved in osmoregulation in an obligate freshwater palaemonid prawn (Macrobrachium australiense)
PeerJ
Transcriptome
Osmoregulation
Macrobrachium australiense
Hepatopancreas
Illumina
Antennal gland
title A transcriptomic scan for potential candidate genes involved in osmoregulation in an obligate freshwater palaemonid prawn (Macrobrachium australiense)
title_full A transcriptomic scan for potential candidate genes involved in osmoregulation in an obligate freshwater palaemonid prawn (Macrobrachium australiense)
title_fullStr A transcriptomic scan for potential candidate genes involved in osmoregulation in an obligate freshwater palaemonid prawn (Macrobrachium australiense)
title_full_unstemmed A transcriptomic scan for potential candidate genes involved in osmoregulation in an obligate freshwater palaemonid prawn (Macrobrachium australiense)
title_short A transcriptomic scan for potential candidate genes involved in osmoregulation in an obligate freshwater palaemonid prawn (Macrobrachium australiense)
title_sort transcriptomic scan for potential candidate genes involved in osmoregulation in an obligate freshwater palaemonid prawn macrobrachium australiense
topic Transcriptome
Osmoregulation
Macrobrachium australiense
Hepatopancreas
Illumina
Antennal gland
url https://peerj.com/articles/2520.pdf
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