Identification and molecular characterization of a C-type lectin-like protein from Chinese shrimp (Fenneropenaeus chinensis)

A C-type lectin-like protein was cloned and characterized from the Chinese shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis, and named as FcCTL. The results indicated that the full length cDNA of 859 bp had an open reading frame encoded a polypeptide of 220 amino acids with one carbohydrate-recognition domain, six conserved Cys and one key motif EPGD. The theoretical molecular weight and pI of mature protein was 25.3 kDa and 5.4. Sequence comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of FcCTL showed varied identity of 26–34, 34, 31 and 30 % with those of F. chinensis, Portunus trituberculatus, Tetraodon nigroviridis, Penaeus monodon, respectively. qRT-PCR analysis indicated that FcCTL was expressed highest in hepatopancreas of normal shrimp, and it’s expression was up-regulated in hepatopancreas and gills post white spot syndrome virus challenge. The purified recombinant FcCTL showed higher antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria than against Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. And the hemagglutinating activity of rFcCTL could be completely inhibited by GlcNAc (5 μg/ml), LPS (2.5 μg/ml), d-galactose (100 mM) and maltose (100 mM). These data suggested that FcCTL might play an important role in shrimp immune and would be helpful to better understand the innate immunity mechanism of shrimp.     

Two C-type lectins from shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei that might be involved in immune response against bacteria and virus

C-type lectins play crucial roles in innate immunity to recognize and eliminate pathogens efficiently. In the present study, two C-type lectins from shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei (designated as LvLectin-1 and LvLectin-2) were identified, and their expression patterns, both in tissues and toward pathogen stimulation, were then characterized. The full-length cDNA of LvLectin-1 and LvLectin-2 was 567 and 625 bp, containing an open reading frame (ORF) of 471 and 489 bp, respectively, and deduced amino acid sequences showed high similarity to other members of C-type lectin superfamily. Both two C-type lectins encoded a single carbohydrate-recognition domain (CRD). The motif of Ca²⁺ binding site 2 in CRD, which determined carbohydrate-binding specificity, was QPN (Gln¹²²-Pro¹²³-Asn¹²⁴) in LvLectin-1, but QPD (Gln¹²⁸-Pro¹²⁹-Asp¹³⁰) in LvLectin-2. Two C-type lectins exhibited similar tissue expression pattern, for their mRNA were both constitutively expressed in all tested tissues, including hepatopancreas, muscle, gill, hemocytes, gonad and heart, furthermore they were both mostly expressed in hepatopancreas, though the expression level of LvLectin-2 was much higher than LvLectin-1. The expression level of two C-type lectins mRNA in hemocytes varied greatly after the challenge of Listonella anguillarum or WSSV. After L. anguillarum challenge, the expression of both C-type lectins were significantly (P < 0.01) up-regulated compared with blank group, and LvLectin-1 exhibited higher level than LvLectin-2; while after the stimulation of WSSV, the expression of LvLectin-2 was significantly up-regulated at 6 h (P < 0.01) and 12 h (P < 0.05), but the expression level of LvLectin-1 down-regulated significantly (P < 0.01) to 0.4-fold at 6 and 12 h post-stimulation. The results indicated that the two C-type lectins might be involved in immune response toward pathogen infection, and they might perform different recognition specificity toward bacteria or virus.