Identification of fatty acid synthase from the Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei and its specific expression profiles during white spot syndrome virus infection

Fatty acid synthase (FAS) in animal tissues consists of two identical monomers and is known to be a complex multi-functional enzyme that plays an important role in energy homeostasis. However, there are few reports of studies focused on the relationship between FAS and virus infection in invertebrates. In the present study, we cloned the FAS gene from an economically important invertebrate, the Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei. The full-length FAS cDNA is 8268 bp, including a 5′-terminal untranslated region of 137 bp, a 3′-terminal untranslated region of 601 bp and an open reading frame of 7530 bp. FAS cDNA encodes a polypeptide of 2509 amino acid residues that contains a typical β-ketoacyl synthase (KS) domain at the N-terminus, next to a malonyl/acetyltransferase (MAT) domain, a dehydrase domain, an enoyl reductase domain, a ketoacyl reductase domain, a phosphopantetheine attachment site domain and a thioesterase domain at the C-terminus. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR revealed the up-regulated expression of FAS in L. vannamei hepatopancreas and muscle after white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection. The expression of FAS in muscle was 13.03-fold greater than that in the control (p < 0.05) and 2.93-fold greater in hepatopancreas (p > 0.05). Meanwhile, expression of the fatty acid-binding protein (FABP), another important factor in lipid metabolism, was increased in muscle to 19.20-fold greater than that in the control (p < 0.05) but only 0.76-fold in hepatopancreas (p > 0.05). These results implied that WSSV infected body surface tissues, but there was very little infection of internal organs. We suggest that the increase of FAS expression is induced in WSSV-infected shrimps, and the virus changes the lipid metabolism of the host, which directly affects virus assembly or defense against virus infection.

Research highlights
► We cloned the FAS gene from an economically important invertebrate, the Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei.
► We revealed the expression of FAS and FABP after white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection.
► We suggested the virus changes the lipid metabolism of the host, which directly affects virus assembly or defense against virus infection.