Do plasticity in gene expression and physiological responses in Palaemonid prawns facilitate adaptive response to different osmotic challenges?

High-throughput screening of natural antiviral drug candidates against white spot syndrome virus targeting VP28 in Penaeus monodon: Computational drug design approaches

The white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), considered the deadliest pathogen impacting Penaeid shrimp (Penaeus monodon), remains worrisome for the global shrimp industry due to its extreme virulence and mortality rate of up to 100%. To date, there has been no breakthrough in effective antivirals or vaccines that can mitigate the financial damage caused by the pathogen. The distinctive structure of VP28 facilitates its role as a trimer, serving as the primary envelope protein of WSSV. It anchors to the viral envelope, directly interacts with PmRab7, a membrane protein in P. monodon, and aids in entry into the host. This research aims to discover antiviral drug candidates targeting VP28 trimer by screening a virtual library of 187 bioactive compounds derived from the medicinal herbs Azadirachta indica and Bacopa monnieri. To evaluate the drug ability of compounds in restricting VP28 trimer interaction within the endocytic pathway, a computational strategy was employed, including virtual screening, pharmacokinetics and toxicity analysis, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The four strongest compounds, epicatechin, luteolin, kaempferol, and apigenin, exhibited binding affinities of -8.8, -8.8, -8.7, and -8.5 Kcal/mol, respectively, and demonstrated excellent pharmacokinetic properties. Furthermore, we employed 100 nanoseconds MD simulations and MM-PBSA binding free energy calculations to examine intermolecular interactions and confirmed the structural stability of the compounds at the VP28 binding site. The findings of this research suggest that these compounds hold promise in combating WSSV infection, reducing economic losses, and contributing to the sustainability of the shrimp industry.

Genomic Basis of Freshwater Adaptation in the Palaemonid Prawn Genus Macrobrachium: Convergent Evolution Following Multiple Independent Colonization Events

Adaptation to different salinity environments can enhance morphological and genomic divergence between related aquatic taxa. Species of prawns in the genus Macrobrachium naturally inhabit different osmotic niches and possess distinctive lifecycle traits associated with salinity tolerance. This study was conducted to investigate the patterns of adaptive genomic divergence during freshwater colonization in 34 Macrobrachium species collected from four continents; Australia, Asia, North and South America. Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technique identified 5018 loci containing 82,636 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were used to reconstruct a phylogenomic tree. An additional phylogeny was reconstructed based on 43 candidate genes, previously identified as being potentially associated with freshwater adaptation. Comparison of the two phylogenetic trees revealed contrasting topologies. The GBS tree indicated multiple independent continent-specific invasions into freshwater by Macrobrachium lineages following common marine ancestry, as species with abbreviated larval development (ALD), i.e., species having a full freshwater life history, appeared reciprocally monophyletic within each continent. In contrast, the candidate gene tree showed convergent evolution for all ALD species worldwide, forming a single, well-supported clade. This latter pattern is likely the result of common evolutionary pressures selecting key mutations favored in continental freshwater habitats Results suggest that following multiple independent invasions into continental freshwaters at different evolutionary timescales, Macrobrachium taxa experienced adaptive genomic divergence, and in particular, convergence in the same genomic regions with parallel shifts in specific conserved phenotypic traits, such as evolution of larger eggs with abbreviated larval developmental.

Effects of Salinity on Physiological, Biochemical and Gene Expression Parameters of Black Tiger Shrimp (Penaeus monodon): Potential for Farming in Low-Salinity Environments

Salinity is one of the most important abiotic factors affecting growth, metabolism, immunity and survival of aquatic species in farming environments. As a euryhaline species, the black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) can tolerate a wide range of salinity levels and is farmed between brackish to marine water conditions. The current study tested the effects of six different salinity levels (0‱, 2.5‱, 5‱, 10‱, 20‱ and 30‱) on the selected physiological, biochemical and genetic markers (individual changes in the expression pattern of selected candidate genes) in the black tiger shrimp. Experimental salinity levels significantly affected growth and survival performance (p < 0.05); the highest levels of growth and survival performance were observed at the control (20‱) salinity. Salinity reductions significantly increased free fatty acid (FFA), but reduced free amino acid (FAA) levels. Lower salinity treatments (0-10‱) significantly reduced hemolymph osmolality levels while 30‱ significantly increased osmolality levels. The five different salinity treatments increased the expression of osmoregulatory and hemolymph regulatory genes by 1.2-8-fold. In contrast, 1.2-1.6-fold lower expression levels were observed at the five salinity treatments for growth (alpha amylase) and immunity (toll-like receptor) genes. O₂ consumption, glucose and serotonin levels, and expression of osmoregulatory genes showed rapid increase initially with salinity change, followed by reducing trend and stable patterns from the 5th day to the end. Hemocyte counts, expression of growth and immunity related genes showed initial decreasing trends, followed by an increasing trend and finally stability from 20th day to the end. Results indicate the farming potential of P. monodon at low salinity environments (possibly at freshwater) by proper acclimation prior to stocking with minimal effects on production performance.

Physiological plasticity and acclimatory responses to salinity stress are ion-specific in the mayfly, Neocloeon triangulifer

Freshwater salinization is a rapidly emerging ecological issue and is correlated with significant declines in aquatic biodiversity. It remains unclear how changing salinity regimes affect the physiology of sensitive aquatic insects. We used the parthenogenetic mayfly, Neocloeon triangulifer, to ask how ionic exposure history alters physiological processes and responses to subsequent major ion exposures. Using radiotracers (²²Na, ³⁵SO₄, and ⁴⁵Ca), we observed that mayflies chronically reared in elevated sodium or sulfate (157 mg L^-1 Na or 667 mg L^-1 SO₄) had 2-fold (p < 0.0001) and 8-fold (p < 0.0001) lower ion uptake rates than mayflies reared in dilute control water (16 mg L^-1 Na and 23 mg L^-1 SO₄) and subsequently transferred to elevated salinities, respectively. These acclimatory ion transport changes provided protection in 96-h toxicity bioassays for sodium, but not sulfate. Interestingly, calcium uptake was uniformly much lower and minimally influenced by exposure history, but was poorly tolerated in the toxicity bioassays. With qRT-PCR, we observed that the expression of many ion transporter genes in mayflies was influenced by elevated salinity in an ion-specific manner (general upregulation in response to sulfate, downregulation in response to calcium). Elevated sodium exposure had minimal influence on the same genes. Finally, we provide novel light microscopic evidence of histomorphological changes within the epithelium of the Malpighian tubules (insect primary excretory system) that undergoes cellular degeneration and necrosis secondary to calcium toxicity. We conclude that physiological plasticity to salinity stress is ion-specific and provide evidence for ion-specific toxicity mechanisms in N. triangulifer.