Cathepsin B is a cystein proteinase scarcely studied in crustaceans. Its function has not been clearly described in shrimp species belonging to the sub-order Dendrobranchiata, which includes the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei and other species from the Penaeidae family. Studies on vertebrates suggest that these lysosomal enzymes intracellularly hydrolize protein, as other cystein proteinases...

The nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathways play important roles in innate immune responses. IκB is the main cytoplasmic inhibitor of NF-κB. In this study, we identified the LvCactus gene from Litopenaeus vannamei, which is the first cloned IκB homologue in subphylum Crustacea. LvCactus contains six predicted ankyrin repeats, which show similarities to those of Cactus proteins from insects. LvC...

The QM, firstly identified as a putative tumor suppressor gene from human, has been confirmed to possess varieties of functions in a range of organisms. In the present study, the cDNA that encodes a 220-amino-acid QM protein with calculated molecular mass of 25.5 kDa and isoelectric point of 10.07 was characterized from the Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. Analysis of the deduced amin...

The Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei is the dominant crustacean species in global seafood mariculture. Understanding the genome and genetic architecture is useful for deciphering complex traits and accelerating the breeding program in shrimp. In this study, a genome survey was conducted and a high-density linkage map was constructed using a next-generation sequencing approach. The geno...

Infectious myonecrosis virus (IMNV) causes significant economic losses in farmed shrimp, where associated mortality in ponds can reach 70 %. To explore host/pathogen interactions, a next-generation sequencing approach using lymphoid organ tissue from IMNV-infected Litopenaeus vannamei shrimp was conducted. Preliminary sequence assembly of just the virus showed that there were at least an additi...

Molecular response of carbohydrate metabolism in Litopenaeus vannamei was evaluated at transcriptional level through quantitative real-time PCR analysis. The mRNA expressions of six genes hexose-6-phosphotransferase, pyruvate kinase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, crustacean hyperglycemic hormone, glucose transporter and insulin-like growth factors binding protein in the hepatopancreas, mus...