Molecular characterization and expression analysis of five chitinases associated with molting in the Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis》.pdfVIP

Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part B 187 (2015) 110–120 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part B journal homepage: /locate/cbpb Molecular characterization and expression analysis of five chitinases associated with molting in the Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis Xuguang Li a,b,c,1,2, Zhiqiang Xu b,1,3, Gang Zhou b,4, Hai Lin b,2, Jun Zhou b,4, Qingfei Zeng a,5, Zhigang Mao a,5, Xiaohong Gu a,⁎ a State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China b Freshwater Fisheries Research Institute of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210017, PR China c University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Chitinases are crucial enzymes required for chitin degradation in crustaceans. Five chitinase genes, namely, Received 10 February 2015 EsCht1, EsCht2, EsCht3, EsCht4, and EsCht6, were identified in the Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis. The Received in revised form 12 May 2015 open reading frames (ORF) of EsCht1, EsCht2, EsCht3, EsCht4 and EsCht6 ranged from 1182 bp to 1926 bp Accepted 14 May 2015 with encoding proteins between 393 and 641 amino acid residues. Domain analysis of the chitinase proteins Available online 22 May 2015 showed that most EsChts contained the catalytic domain and the chitin-binding domain (CBD) connected with the serine/threonine (