A novel vertebrates Toll-like receptor counterpart regulating the anti-microbial peptides expression in the freshwater crayfish, Procambarus clarkii

•A novel vertebrates TLR counterpart was identified from Procambarus clarkii.•PcToll could be induced by Vibrio and S. aureus challenge.•Overexpression of PcToll in Drosophila S2 cells could induce AMPs expression.•RNAi results showed that PcToll was involved in regulation of AMPs expression.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play an important role in regulation of anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) expression. A novel vertebrates TLR counterpart named PcToll, was firstly identified from the freshwater crayfish, Procambarus clarkii. Phylogenetic analysis showed that PcToll together with Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae Toll9 were clustered with human Tolls. PcToll was mainly expressed in hepatopancreas and gills and it also could be detected in hemocytes, heart, stomach and intestine. PcToll was upregulated in hemocytes and gills post 24 h Vibrio anguillarum challenge. In hepatopancreas and intestine, the highest expression level of PcToll could be observed at 12 h V. anguillarum challenge. In hemocytes, PcToll went up post 24 h Staphylococcus aureus challenge and in gills, the expression level of PcToll showed no obvious change from 2 to 24 h S. aureus challenge. In hepatopancreas post 12 h S. aureus challenge, PcToll was upregulated and it showed obvious upregulation post 12 h S. aureus challenge in intestine. RNAi results showed that PcToll was involved in regulation of crustins (Cru1, Cru2), anti-lipopolysaccharide factor 2 (ALF2) and lysozyme 1 (Lys1) expression. Overexpression of PcToll in Drosophila S2 cells could induce Drosophila Attacin (Atta), Metchnikowin (Mtk), Drosomycin (Drs) and shrimp Penaeidin (PEN4) expression. From the results, it could be speculated that PcToll might play important roles in crayfish innate immune defense.