Acute cold snaps induce a sudden reduction in water temperature and lead to high mortality of cultured Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei); however, little is known about the regulatory mechanisms in this shrimp species when adapting to acute cold stress. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways are highly conserved and well known for their important roles in transducing environmental stress signals into the cell nucleus. In this study, the potential roles of p38^MAPK in the response to acute cold stress in L. vannamei were identified. The transcript levels of p38^MAPK in the gills were found to be significantly upregulated after challenge with acute cold stress for the first 12 h, while no distinctly differential expression was detected in the other two types of MAPKs (JNK and ERK). The phosphorylation levels of p38^MAPK under acute cold stress continued to increase and reached a peak 1 h after cold exposure. The phosphorylation signaling of p38^MAPK in re-chilled shrimp (5 min) appeared more quickly than that in primary shrimp (15 min). The results suggest that p38^MAPK might play an essential role in transducing acute cold stress signals from the environment to the cell nucleus in L. vannamei. Our study is the first to characterize p38^MAPK during acute cold stress adaptation, and the results will contribute to further research.

急性感冒导致水温突然降低，导致养殖的太平洋白虾（Litopenaeus vannamei）的高死亡率。然而，对于这种虾在适应急性冷胁迫时的调节机制知之甚少。丝裂原活化的蛋白激酶（MAPK）信号通路是高度保守的，并且因其在将环境应激信号转导到细胞核中的重要作用而众所周知。在这项研究中，确定了p38 ^MAPK在南美白对虾急性冷应激反应中的潜在作用。p38 ^MAPK的转录水平发现acute受到急性冷应激攻击后的最初12小时内中的蛋白显着上调，而在其他两种类型的MAPK（JNK和ERK）中未检测到明显的差异表达。在急性冷胁迫下，p38 ^MAPK的磷酸化水平持续增加，并在冷暴露后1 h达到峰值。再冷冻虾（5分钟）中p38 ^MAPK的磷酸化信号比原虾（15分钟）中出现的更快。结果表明，p38 ^MAPK可能在将急性冷胁迫信号从环境传递到南美乳杆菌的细胞核中发挥重要作用。我们的研究首次鉴定了p38 ^MAPK 在急性冷应激适应过程中，其结果将有助于进一步的研究。