Project: Transcriptome of the white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei: gene expression differences between hepatopancreas and branchiae

The transcriptome (RNA messenger) is a type of genetic information that all live organisms have. Knowing this allows us to assume if some functions that are dictated by the genome (RNA), the genetic information that passes from parents to children, are present in the individual, in this case the white shrimp of the Pacific Ocean.

The importance of studying the messenger RNA is that we can identify possible functions that the organisms are performing in diverse circumstances. Even though RNA does not perform these functions, it generates proteins that do carry them out (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Through the study of the RNA messenger in shrimp, we are able to know the state in which shrimp are found

Shrimp have a rigid extreme skeleton, the shell, which limits their growth. This is why they need to discard it in a cyclical manner to increase size and weight, and grow a new shell; this cycle is repeated during their life and is called shedding cycle. The shedding cycle is divided into stages or phases (Figure 2), and it affects organisms deeply, because they need to destroy and generate all the components of the external skeleton every time, chitin, among them.

This project studies shrimp shedding using gene measurements of two important proteins in shedding, enzymes chitin synthase and chitinase, which are in charge of forming and destroying chitin, respectively.

Figure 2. Shrimp shedding cycle

Objective:

Through this project we hope to obtain better knowledge on the phenomena that occur during the shedding cycle in shrimp. It is thus important to know what participates in this cycle, such as the enzymes chitin synthase and chitinase, as well as the genes that modify them. This knowledge will allow us to understand and eventually modify them for human benefit.