Chitinase can degrade chitin and play an essential role in animal immunity and plant defense. The immune functions of Chitinase in Procambarus clarkii (P. clarkii) remain to elucidate. Here, we identified PcChitinase 2 gene sequence from P. clarkii and studied its spatial and temporal expression profiles. The PcChitinase 2 transcribed unequally in different tissues; however, its expression was highest in those of stomach, gut, and hepatopancreas. The challenge with lipolysaccharide or peptidoglycan significantly up-regulated the expression of PcChitinase 2 in hepatopancreas. The knockdown of the PcChitinase 2 gene by double-stranded RNA suppressed most of the Toll-pathway-related immune genes (phospholipase, lectin, sptazle Cactus, serine proteikinase, anti-lipopolysaccharide factor, and Toll) production were significantly increased. Our results suggest PcChitinase 2 may be involved in the innate immune responses of P. clarkii by modulating the toll pathway.

几丁质酶可以降解几丁质，并在动物免疫和植物防御中起重要作用。几丁质酶在克氏原螯虾（P. clarkii）中的免疫功能仍有待阐明。在这里，我们从P. clarkii鉴定了Pc几丁质酶2基因序列，并研究了其时空表达谱。所述PcChitinase 2转录不均等在不同的组织; 然而，其表达在胃，肠和肝胰腺中最高。脂多糖或肽聚糖的刺激显着上调了肝胰腺中Pc几丁质酶2的表达。Pc几丁质酶2的敲低通过双链RNA抑制的基因，大多数与Toll途径相关的免疫基因（磷脂酶，凝集素，sptazle仙人掌，丝氨酸蛋白激酶，抗脂多糖因子和Toll）的产生均显着增加。我们的研究结果表明PcChitinase 2可以在先天免疫反应参与克氏原螯通过调节Toll途径。