Acute metabolic response of Portunus trituberculatus to Vibrio alginolyticus infection

• V. alginolyticus infection caused a tissue-specific metabolic response of P. trituberculatus.
• Metabolites related to V. alginolyticus infection were analyzed by a NMR-based metabolomic method.
• The levels of some metabolites in crab gill and muscle were significantly altered by V. alginolyticus infection.
• The results provided details of acute metabolomic alterations of swimming crab after V. alginolyticus infection.

Vibrio alginolyticus is a common pathogen that causes vibrio disease in swimming crab, Portunus trituberculatus. An understanding of the metabolic response mechanism of swimming crab to V. alginolyticus is essential for further control of this disease. In the present study, we analyzed the metabolic responses of gill, hepatopancreas, and muscle of swimming crab to an acute V. alginolyticus infection using 1H NMR spectroscopy coupled with multivariate data analysis. Our results showed that V. alginolyticus infection induced significant metabolomic alterations in crab muscle and gill within 24 h. These alterations showed tissue-specific in the infected swimming crabs. V. alginolyticus infection resulted in depression of gluconeogenesis from amino acids, improvement of energy accumulation, and enhancement of cellular immune response of muscle. These metabolic alterations were highlighted in the depletion of amino acids and inosine monophosphate as well as in the accumulation of ATP and betaine in muscle. Vibrio infection also caused energy disturbance in gill, which manifested in the depletion of glucose and in the accumulation of lactate and adenosine monophosphate. These findings provided details of acute metabolomic alterations of swimming crab after V. alginolyticus infection and demonstrated the potentiality of altered metabolites as biomarker in vibrio infection.Statement of relevanceProvide potential metabolite biomarkers for vibrio infection of crab.