Transcriptome Analysis on Hepatopancreas Reveals the Metabolic Dysregulation Caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus Infection in Litopenaeus vannamei

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Acute hepatopancreas necrosis disease (AHPND) is a lethal disease which hinders the development of shrimp aquaculture. It is mainly caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus. In order to learn more about the mechanism of resistance to AHPND and breed the disease resistant broodstocks, transcriptome analysis has been widely used to study the immune responses of shrimp to Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection, and many immune-related genes have been reported in response to the pathogen. However, few studies have focused on the relationship between the host metabolism and Vibrio infection. In this study, we performed a comparative transcriptomic analysis on the hepatopancreas of shrimp at different times after V. parahaemolyticus infection. We found that several processes and pathways related to metabolism were significantly upregulated in shrimp hepatopancreas after infection. These results indicate that the metabolism of shrimp plays an important role in response to Vibrio infection. The data provide a new perspective for the development of disease-resistant strategies in shrimp aquaculture. ABSTRACT: Acute hepatopancreas necrosis disease (AHPND) has caused massive deaths of shrimp and has led to huge economic losses in aquaculture. Vibrio parahaemolyticus (VP(AHPND)) carrying a plasmid encoding binary toxins homologous to the photorhabdus insect-related (Pir) toxins is one of the main pathogens causing this disease. Previous studies have reported many immune-related genes of shrimp in response to this pathogenic bacteria. However, few studies have so far focused on the metabolic changes in Litopenaeus vannamei upon VP(AHPND) infection. In the present study, comparative transcriptomic analysis was performed on the hepatopancreas of shrimp at different times during VP(AHPND) infection. Functional analyses on the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) during infection showed that pathways related to glucose, energy and amino acid metabolism, as well as nucleic acid synthesis, were obviously changed in the hepatopancreas after VP(AHPND) infection. Additionally, three signaling pathways, which could regulate metabolic processes, including HIF-1 signaling pathway, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and NF-KappaB signaling pathway, also changed significantly. Collectively, these data reveal a close relationship between host metabolism processes and Vibrio infection. The information will enrich our understanding of the interaction mechanism between the shrimp and Vibrio.