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- Title
Corazonin Stimulates Ecdysteroid Synthesis during the Molting Process of the Swimming Crab, Portunus trituberculatus.
- Authors
Xie, Xi; Zhang, Jun; Tu, Shisheng; Zhou, Qi; Zhu, Dongfa
- Abstract
Simple Summary: Functional studies of neuropeptides are of great significance in revealing the neuroendocrine regulation mechanism in crustaceans, and in guiding and developing artificial regulation techniques in economic species. In this paper, we investigated the effect of a crustacean neuropeptide corazonin (Crz) on ecdysteroid synthesis based on the high expression of Crz receptor in the Y-organ, the main site of ecdysteroid synthesis. By using Crz treatment and CrzR silencing, we found that Crz/CrzR signaling could cause up-regulation of ecdysteroid synthesis genes and an increase in ecdysteroid levels both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, it was also observed that Crz/CrzR signaling affects the expression level of ecdysis-triggering hormones. Our results provide new insights into the understanding of Crz function in crustaceans. The neuropeptide corazonin (Crz) exerts diverse physiological effects in insects, yet its role in crustaceans remains elusive. The abundant expression of Crz receptor (CrzR) in the Y-organs of several crustaceans suggests a potential involvement of Crz in regulating ecdysteroid synthesis. In this study, we examined the effects of PtCrz on ecdysteroid synthesis during the molting period of Portunus trituberculatus through PtCrz treatments and PtCrzR silencing. Our results showed that PtCrz peptide stimulates ecdysteroid levels and the gene expression involved in ecdysteroidogenesis both in vitro and in vivo, whereas dsPtCrzR treatments had opposite effects on ecdysteroid levels and associated gene expression. Thus, our study suggests that PtCrz may modulate ecdysteroid synthesis via Y-organ-expressed PtCrzR. Furthermore, we also discovered the involvement of PtCrz/PtCrzR signaling in regulating PtETH expression. Notably, the inhibitory effect of dsPtCrzR on ecdysteroid synthesis or PtETH expression can be reversed by PtCrz treatment, suggesting the potential existence of multiple receptors for PtCrz. This study provides new insights into the function of crustacean Crz and, for the first time, elucidates the presence of a neuropeptide that can stimulate ecdysteroid synthesis in crustaceans.
- Subjects
PORTUNIDAE; GENE expression; PORTUNUS; PEPTIDES; CRUSTACEA
- Publication
Biology (2079-7737), 2024, Vol 13, Issue 8, p630
- ISSN
2079-7737
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/biology13080630