Identification of genes differentially expressed in swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus response to low temperature

• SSH analysis of Portunus trituberculatus muscle under low temperature stress.
• 106 high quality genes were differentially expressed under low temperature stress.
• Genes were categorized into 7 major physiological functions.
• Some important differentially expressed genes were verified via QPCR.
• To gain insight on the physiological adaptation mechanism of P. trituberculatus in cold stress at the molecular level.

The swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus has been greatly impacted by cold stress. To gain knowledge on the physiological adaptation of P. trituberculatus to low temperature, genomic analysis was performed by applying suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) to identify genes up- and down-regulated in crabs exposed to low temperature at 10 °C for 6 h and 7 d. Results obtained from the SSH libraries revealed that 106 different sequences were regulated by low temperature, which correspond to seven major physiological functions. To validate the expression profiles from SSH, 6 genes regulated by low temperature were measured by quantitative real-time PCR. The aim of this study is to gain insight on the physiological adaptation mechanisms of P. trituberculatus in cold stress at the molecular level. This will not only provide a theoretical basis for understanding acute stress responses of the crab facing cold waves, but also provide technical reference for evaluating physiological adaptation in long term cold environments and for selective breeding of cold tolerant strains for crab aquaculture.