Abstract
The metallothioneins (MTs) are conserved and multi-functional proteins which play crucial roles in the transportation of essential trace elements and the detoxification of harmful metallic elements. A novel MT homologue (accession no. JN707684) was isolated from the Litopenaeus vannamei hypersalinity subtractive library and used to carry out tissue-specific expression under varying salinity stress. The complete cDNA sequence of LvMT contains a 177 bp open reading frame encoding 58 amino acids, a 66 bp 5′-UTR, and a 117 bp 3′-UTR. The LvMT was expressed in the highest peak in the hepatopancreas under hyposalinity (3 g l−1) (19.43-fold, p < 0.01) and hypersalinity (40 g l−1) (22.3-fold, p < 0.01) stress for 6 h. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that LvMT is similar to other crustacean MT proteins. The LvMT was distributed in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus of HeLa and EPC cells.
Funding
This work was supported by a grant from the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (2012AA10A404-4) and grants from the Science & Technology Promoting Project (grant no. A201001A02 and A201101B01, A201201B02) from the Oceanic & Fishery Bureau of Guangdong Province and the Science and Technology Program of Guangdong Province, 2012B091100270.
Editorial responsibility: Eric Thompson