The power of next-generation sequencing as illustrated by the neuropeptidome of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii

Jul 8, 2015General and comparative endocrinology

Using advanced DNA sequencing to map brain signaling molecules in the crayfish Procambarus clarkii

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Abstract

A total of 58 transcripts encoding neurohormones and 82 for their receptors were identified in the crayfish Procambarus clarkii.

Most neuropeptide transcripts were found to be complete, with only minor missing sections in some.
Three different neuroparsin genes and two putative neuroparsin receptors were detected.
Three pigment dispersing hormones and three likely receptors for these neuropeptides were also present.
New crustacean neuropeptides including CNMamide, calcitonin, CCRFamide, natalisin, trissin, and relaxin were identified.
The crustacean female sex hormone was expressed in both the eyestalk and ovary, but not in the testis.
Two additional proteins similar in structure to the female sex hormone could serve as precursors for neurohormones, but are not expressed by the ovary.

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Transcriptomes of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii were analyzed for the presence of transcripts encoding neurohormones, neuropeptides and their receptors. A total of 58 different transcripts were found to encode such ligands and another 82 for their receptors. A very large number of the neuropeptide transcripts appeared to be complete and for those that were not only small parts seemed to be lacking. Transcripts for the neuropeptide GPCRs as well as for the putative receptors for insulin, neuroparsin and eclosion hormone were often also complete or almost so. Of particular interest is the presence of three different neuroparsin genes and two putative neuroparsin receptors. There are also three pigment dispersing hormones as well three likely receptors for these neuropeptides. CNMamide, calcitonin, CCRFamide, natalisin, trissin and relaxin appear to be new crustacean neuropeptides. The recently identified crustacean female sex hormone was also found and in the crayfish appears to be not only expressed in the eyestalk, but in the ovary as well (though not in the testis). Interestingly, there are two other proteins in the crayfish with a structure similar to crustacean female sex hormone, that could be precursors of neurohormones, but these are not expressed by the ovary. The ovary also appears to contain significant numbers of transcripts encoding pigment dispersing hormones, CNMamide as well as glycoprotein B5, but not glycoprotein A2.

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