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First published online September 19, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 3862-3872 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02425

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Identification and developmental expression of mRNAs encoding crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP) in decapod crustaceans

J. S. Chung¹, D. C. Wilcockson², N. Zmora¹, Y. Zohar¹, H. Dircksen³ and S. G. Webster^2,*

¹ Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA,
² School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2UW, Wales, UK
³ Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 14, S-106 Stockholm, Sweden

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: s.g.webster{at}bangor.ac.uk)

Accepted 3 July 2006

Full-length cDNAs encoding crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP) were isolated from several decapod (brachyuran and astacuran) crustaceans: the blue crab Callinectes sapidus, green shore crab Carcinus maenas, European lobster Homarus gamarus and calico crayfish Orconectes immunis. The cDNAs encode open reading frames of 143 (brachyurans) and 139-140 (astacurans) amino acids. Apart from the predicted signal peptides (30-32 amino acids), the conceptually translated precursor codes for a single copy of CCAP and four other peptides that are extremely similar in terms of amino acid sequence within these species, but which clearly show divergence into brachyuran and astacuran groups. Expression patterns of CCAP mRNA and peptide were determined during embryonic development in Carcinus using quantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry with whole-mount confocal microscopy, and showed that significant mRNA expression (at 50% embryonic development) preceded detectable levels of CCAP in the developing central nervous system (CNS; at 70% development). Subsequent CCAP gene expression dramatically increased during the late stages of embryogenesis (80-100%), coincident with developing immunopositive structures. In adult crabs, CCAP gene expression was detected exclusively in the eyestalk, brain and in particular the thoracic ganglia, in accord with the predominance of CCAP-containing cells in this tissue. Measurement of expression patterns of CCAP mRNA in Carcinus and Callinectes thoracic ganglia throughout the moult cycle revealed only modest changes, indicating that previously observed increases in CCAP peptide levels during premoult were not transcriptionally coupled. Severe hypoxic conditions resulted in rapid downregulation of CCAP transcription in the eyestalk, but not the thoracic ganglia in Callinectes, and thermal challenge did not change CCAP mRNA levels. These results offer the first tantalising glimpses of involvement of CCAP in environmental adaptation to extreme, yet biologically relevant stressors, and perhaps suggest that the CCAP-containing neurones in the eyestalk might be involved in adaptation to environmental stressors.

Key words: crustacean cardioactive peptide, mRNA sequence, development, expression, decapod crustacean