Molecular characterization of metallothionein from white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei and its expression response to salinity stress

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.

Key words:

• Gene expression
• Litopenaeus vannamei
• metallothionein
• salinity stress
• subcellular localization

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

Additional information

Funding

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.