Abstract:
Copepod Apocyclops royi is a small zooplankton crustacean and one of the dominant species in the larval fish live feed. Copepods possess the capacity to synthesize LC-PUFA through the activity of desaturase and elongase enzymes. In this study, a desaturase-like gene (ArCb5D6D) was identified in the copepod Apocyclops royi, Thai copepod species (A. royi-TH). Bioinformatics analysis showed that the ArCb5D6D gene consists of an open reading frame of 1323 bp that encoded a protein of 440 amino acids. ArCb5D6D protein possessed the typical features of the desaturase protein family including conserved cytochrome b5-like heme/steroid binding domain, followed by fatty acid desaturase domain, sharing 61-65% amino acid sequence similarity with shrimp and crab desaturase-like proteins. Moreover, the mRNA expression of the ArCb5D6D gene was investigated in A. royi-TH copepods at each developmental stage (NP: nauplius, CD: copepodid, AD: adult stage). The results show that the ArCb5D6D gene was highly expressed in CD and AD , consistent with PUFA content in copepods. The highest PUFA content was observed in the AD stage, followed by the CD stage and NP stage, respectively. It supports that the ArCb5D6D protein of A. royi-TH is a desaturase-like protein families which plays a role in fatty acid biosynthesis in the crustacean group. Additionally, the effect of salinity on the nutritional value of copepod A. royi-TH was also studied. Copepod A. royi-TH were cultured at different salinities (15 ppt: hyposalinity, 25 ppt: control group). We investigate the fatty acid composition and the mRNA expression of three genes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis (ArD5D, ArD6D, ArCb5D6D). The results showed that the content of ARA (C20:4 n-6) and n-6 PUFA in A. royi-TH cultured at 15 ppt salinity (hyposalinity) was significant (p < 0.05) higher than the control group (25 ppt) consistent with the results of gene expression analysis. The expression level of ArD5D, ArD6D and ArCb5D6D was up-regulated in hyposalinity group. These results suggest that low salinity stress can increase the synthesis of ARA which is the precursor of hormone involved in the osmoregulation of aquatic animals and the ArCb5D6D gene may play a role in ARA synthesis in copepod A. royi-TH. The results provide further insight into the mechanisms of LC-PUFA biosynthesis and also provide a foundation to optimize the LC-PUFA biosynthetic pathway in A. royi-TH.