A Transcriptome Analysis of Neural Tissue of Litopenaeus vannamei After Acute Exposure to Alexandrium pacificum

Alexandrium pacificum (A. pacificum) is a typical paralytic shellfish poisonous dinoflagellate. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) caused by this species can bring serious environmental problems and economic losses to the aquaculture industry. In this study, transcriptome sequencing and analyses were performed on the neural tissue of Litopenaeus vannamei (L. vannamei) after acute exposure to A. pacificum disrupted solution for 72 h, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. The results showed that, compared with the control samples, 300 DEGs were identified in the experimental group, of which 194 were up-regulated, and 106 down-regulated. The gene ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis showed that DEGs were significantly enriched in the cortical cytoskeleton organization, troponin complex, amylo-alpha-1,6-glucosidase and thymidine phosphorylase. Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis found that DEGs were mainly enriched in the oxidative phosphorylation process, intercellular tight junctions and mitophagy. The results showed that the proteoglycans, signaling pathways, and various metabolic processes that regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis all played an essential role in the response of L. vannamei to A. pacificum toxins.