Transcriptome of Eriocheir sinensis under air exposure

Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, is an economically important crab in China. Air exposure is a common stress for E. sinensis, especially during the harvest and transportation. Several studies have investigated the effects of air exposure stress on E. sinensis at physiological and molecular levels. However, the common and distinct mechanisms adopted by male and female crabs to cope with air exposure stress remain unclear. In this study, we performed a comparative transcriptome analysis from hepatopancreatic tissue of female and male Chinese mitten crabs in response to air exposure stress. In total, 428 and 1 322 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in female and male crabs under air exposure, respectively. Our results showed that the transcriptional levels of several glycolysis related genes and anti-apoptotic proteins were up-regulated in both female and male crabs in response to air exposure. Moreover, our findings indicated that female E. sinensis might preferentially increase the expression of heat shock proteins (HSPs) to deal with air exposure stress, while male E. sinensis tend to resist air exposure stress via increasing antioxidant enzyme expression. Overall, this study provides novel insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the air exposure stress response of E. sinensis.