Combined dynamic transcriptomics and metabolomics analyses revealed the effects of trans-vp28 gene Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 on the hepatopancreas of Litopenaeus vannamei.

Litopenaeus vannamei is the most important shrimp species throughout the world. However, diseases are increasing with the development of the industry, so enhancing the immunity of shrimp is of great significance. In this study, 1800 shrimp were divided into two groups randomly: the control group (N, feed with brine shrimp flake) and the experimental group (M, feed with mutant of Synechocystis sp. cells) (300 shrimp/group/replication) and each trial was conducted in triplicates. After immunization, sixty shrimp (with three replicates of twenty) were collected at 0 h in group N and 24, 72, and 144 h in group M, respectively, and the hepatopancreas were isolated for transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis. Transcriptome data revealed that compared with group N, genes related to antimicrobial peptides, cytoskeleton remodeling, detoxification, apoptosis, blood coagulation, immune defense, and antioxidant systems were differentially expressed in group M. In addition, combined transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis revealed that some immune-related differential genes or differential metabolites were consistently expressed in both omics. All the above results indicated that trans-vp28 gene Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 could improve the immunity of L. vannamei. This is the first report of the integration of dynamic transcriptomics combined with metabolomics to study the effect of trans-vp28 gene Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 in the hepatopancreas of L. vannamei and provided important information about the defense and immune mechanisms used by invertebrates against pathogens.