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Identification of a transforming growth factor-β type I receptor transcript in Eriocheir sinensis and its molting-related expression in muscle tissues

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Abstract

The transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway is conserved across animals, and knowledge of its roles during the molt cycle in crustaceans is presently very limited. This study investigates the roles of the TGF-β receptor in molting-related muscle growth in Eriocheir sinensis. Using the RT-PCR and RACE techniques, we obtained a 1722 bp cDNA sequence encoding a transforming growth factor-β type I receptor in Eriocheir sinensis, designated EsTGFBRI, which contains a 124 bp 5′-untranslated region, a 20 bp partial 3′-untranslated region and a 1578 bp open reading frame encoding 525 amino acids. The deduced EsTGFBRI contains an N-terminal 24 amino acid signal peptide, an activin type I and II receptor domain, a transmembrane helix region, a glycine-serine-rich motif, and a conserved serine/threonine kinase catalytic domain including an activation loop. The qRT-PCR results showed that EsTGFBRI gene was highly expressed in the intermolt testis and ovary in mature crabs. In juvenile crabs, the mRNA levels of EsTGFBRI in claw and abdominal muscles in the later premolt D3–4 stage were significantly higher than those in the intermolt C and postmolt A–B stages. There was no significant change in EsTGFBRI mRNA levels in walking leg muscles during the molt cycle. The results suggest that EsTGFBRI is probably play roles in molting-related muscle growth in E. sinensis. This study provides a necessary basis for elucidating the functions of TGF-β-like signaling mediated by TGFBRI in molting-related muscle growth in crustaceans.

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Acknowledgement

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31572635), the Key Supporting Subject of Ecology of Shaoguan University (230079030101) and the Key Scientific Research Project of Shaoguan University (SZ2018KJ04). We would like to thank Prof. Yongxu Cheng for his kind help with animal sampling, and we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers.

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  1. Yingdong College of Life Sciences, Shaoguan University, Room C-304, No. 288, Daxue Road, Zhenjiang District, Yingdong Building, Shaoguan, Guangdong Province, 512005, China

    Zhihuan Tian, Hongyuan Peng, Weide Deng & Chuanzhen Jiao

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Tian, Z., Peng, H., Deng, W. et al. Identification of a transforming growth factor-β type I receptor transcript in Eriocheir sinensis and its molting-related expression in muscle tissues. Mol Biol Rep 47, 77–86 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-019-05108-8

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