The miRNAs profiling revealed by high-throughput sequencing upon WSSV infection in mud crab Scylla paramamosain

Mar 10, 2020Fish & shellfish immunology

Changes in small RNA molecules in mud crab during virus infection

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Abstract

A total of 261 unique microRNAs were identified in the hemocytes of mud crabs, with 152 showing differential expression during viral infection.

High-throughput sequencing detected 940,379 and 1,306,023 high-quality mappable reads in normal and WSSV-infected mud crabs, respectively.
Among the identified miRNAs, 131 were specifically expressed in normal mud crabs and 46 in WSSV-infected individuals.
Eighty-four miRNAs were found to be expressed in both normal and WSSV-infected hemocytes.
Of the differentially expressed miRNAs in WSSV-infected hemocytes, 89 were down-regulated and 63 were up-regulated compared to controls.
The differentially regulated miRNAs are correlated with immune responses in hemocytes, including processes like phagocytosis, melanism, and apoptosis.

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microRNAs (miRNAs) are known to regulate various immune functions by silencing the target genes in both vertebrates and invertebrates. However, in mud crab Scylla paramamosain, the role of miRNAs during the response to virus invasion remains unclear. To investigate the roles of miRNAs in S. paramamosain during virus infection, the mud crab was challenged with white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) and then subjected to the transcriptional analysis at different conditions. The results of high-throughput sequencing revealed that 940,379 and 1,306,023 high-quality mappable reads were detected in the hemocyte of normal and WSSV-infected mud crabs, respectively. Besides, the total number of 261 unique miRNAs were identified. Among them, 131 miRNAs were specifically expressed in the hemocytes of normal mud crabs, 46 miRNAs were specifically transcribed in those of WSSV-infected individuals, the other 84 miRNAs were expressed in both normal and WSSV-infected individuals. Furthermore, a number of 152 (89 down-regulated and 63 up-regulated) miRNAs were found to be differentially expressed in the WSSV-infected hemocytes, normalized to the controls. The identified miRNAs were subjected to GO analysis and target gene prediction and the results suggested that the differentially regulated miRNAs were mainly correlated with the changes of the immune responses of the hemocytes, including phagocytosis, melanism, and apoptosis as well. Taken together, the results demonstrated that the expressed miRNAs during the virus infection were mainly involved in the regulation of immunological pathways in mud crabs. Our findings not only enrich the understanding of the functions of miRNAs in the innate immune system but also provide some novel potential targets for the prevention of WSSV infection in crustaceans.

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