Next-Generation Transcriptome Profiling of the Salmon Louse Caligus rogercresseyi Exposed to Deltamethrin (AlphaMax™): Discovery of Relevant Genes and Sex-Related Differences

Sea lice are one of the main parasites affecting the salmon aquaculture industry, causing significant economic losses worldwide. Increased resistance to traditional chemical treatments has created the need to find alternative control methods. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the transcriptome response of the salmon louse Caligus rogercresseyi to the delousing drug deltamethrin (AlphaMax™). Through bioassays with different concentrations of deltamethrin, adult salmon lice transcriptomes were sequenced from cDNA libraries in the MiSeq Illumina platform. A total of 78 million reads for females and males were assembled in 30,212 and 38,536 contigs, respectively. De novo assembly yielded 86,878 high-quality contigs and, based on published data, it was possible to annotate and identify relevant genes involved in several biological processes. RNA-seq analysis in conjunction with heatmap hierarchical clustering evidenced that pyrethroids modify the ectoparasitic transcriptome in adults, affecting molecular processes associated with the nervous system, cuticle formation, oxidative stress, reproduction, and metabolism, among others. Furthermore, sex-related transcriptome differences were evidenced. Specifically, 534 and 1033 exclusive transcripts were identified for males and females, respectively, and 154 were shared between sexes. For males, estradiol 17-beta-dehydrogenase, sphingolipid delta4-desaturase DES1, ketosamine-3-kinase, and arylsulfatase A, among others, were discovered, while for females, vitellogenin 1, glycoprotein G, transaldolase, and nitric oxide synthase were among those identified. The shared transcripts included annotations for tropomyosin, γ-crystallin A, glutamate receptor–metabotropic, glutathione S-transferase, and carboxipeptidase B. The present study reveals that deltamethrin generates a complex transcriptome response in C. rogercresseyi, thus providing valuable genomic information for developing new delousing drugs.