A thioredoxin response to the WSSV challenge on the Chinese white shrimp, Fenneropenaeus chinensis

Thioredoxin (TRX) is involved in cell redox homeostasis. In addition, it is responsible for maintaining proteins in their reduced state. In our study, a Fenneropenaeus chinensis thioredoxin (FcTRX) gene was identified from the Chinese white shrimp. The full length of FcTRX was 777 bp, including a 60 bp 5′ untranslated region (UTR), a 318 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 105 amino acids protein, and a 399 bp 3′ UTR. FcTRX contained a TRX domain with a conserved motif of Cys-Gly-Pro-Cys (CGPC). No signal peptide was predicted by SMART analysis. The molecular mass and pI of FcTRX were 12 kDa and 4.62, respectively. FcTRX is a widely distributed gene, and its mRNA is detected in hemocytes, hearts, hepatopancreas, gills, stomach, and intestine from an unchallenged shrimp. The expression level of FcTRX was the highest in hepatopancreas, where it was down-regulated to the lowest level at 12 h white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) challenge. In the gills, it went up to the highest level at 6 h. Western blot showed that FcTRX protein in hepatopancreas challenged with WSSV was down-regulated from 2 h to 12 h and then restored to the level similar to that of unchallenged shrimp at 24 h. In the gills challenged with WSSV, the FcTRX protein was up-regulated from 6 h to 24 h. Our research indicated its possible role in the anti-WSSV innate immunity of shrimps.