Study On The Molting Process Of Eriocheir Sinensis And The Spatio-Temporal Expression Of BMPs Gene

Eriocheir sinensis is also known as a hairy crab,river crab and mitten crabs,which belongs to the Decapoda,Crustaceans Arthropod and is an important economic crab in China.With the molting research on the crustaceans,it is significant to identify the molting stages precisely when the physiological process especially had advantages on the growth and development.Previous study reported that the mitten crab that the fragile epidermis was slow movements and vulnerable by the surroundings.Moreover,the survival rate of the crab increased as the epidermis hardening speed accelerated in the later molting stage.In this study,we explore the gene expression mechanism of epidermal sclerosis to further study the growth and development of mitten crab,which can provide a theoretical basis for the development and production of the soft shell crabs.This article observed the crab molting process and discovered a new method to distinguish the molting period of Chinese mitten crabs under laboratory conditions.In addition,with the accurate location and slice observation,the Y-organ(YO)of the crab was determined.Whereafter,we explored the Spatio-temporal expression of bone morphogenetic proteins(BMPs)genes at different stages of molting stage to study the expression levels of BMPs in various tissues and to understand the function of BMPs in the different stage of Eriocheir sinensis during the molt cycle.The following results are obtained through the above research:First,the molting period of the Chinese mitten crab can be identified by observing the claw of the crab.In different periods of molting,the bone plate at the base of the claw will show obvious characteristics,which can provide a new method to distinguish the molting period.Second,the YO tissue structure of Eriocheir sinensis changes periodically at different stages of reproductive molting.Besides,the number of YO secreting cells increases and the number of cells per unit area decreases during the approaching molting period.Third,to select out the most suitable reference genes from AK,UBE,GST,GAPDH,EF-1α,α-TUB,HSP90,β-actin,EF-2 and PGM2 in various stages and tissues of reproductive molting stage,the result indicates that the most stable reference gene is α-TUB.Fourth,BMPs genes are expressed in all tissues of the crab different molting cycle,and the expression levels of the gill,liver,and YO are consistent,the experimental results show that the expression level of BMPs gene in gill tissue may be related to the ossification of soft tissue,and in hepatopancreas tissue,it may be related to the process of calcium ion transport.