N-glycan moieties of the crustacean egg yolk protein and their glycosylation sites.

Vitellogenin (Vg) is the precursor of the egg yolk glycoprotein of crustaceans. In the prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii, Vg is synthesized in the hepatopancreas, secreted to the hemolymph, and taken up by means of receptor-mediated endocytosis into the oocytes. The importance of glycosylation of Vg lies in its putative role in the folding, processing and transport of this protein to the egg yolk and in the fact that the N-glycan moieties could provide a source of carbohydrate during embryogenesis.

Males also have their time of the month! Cyclic disposal of old spermatophores, timed by the molt cycle, in a marine shrimp.

That sexually mature females go through hormonally regulated reproductive cycles is a well-established phenomenon in sexually reproducing organisms. Males, on the other hand, are commonly regarded as being continuously ready to mate. 'Programmed sperm degradation' on a periodic basis or an innate sperm 'expiry date' have never been shown.

Complete sequence of Litopenaeus vannamei (Crustacea: Decapoda) vitellogenin cDNA and its expression in endocrinologically induced sub-adult females.

The gene that encodes vitellogenin (Vg), the precursor of the major yolk protein, vitellin, is expressed during vitellogenesis in decapod crustaceans. In this study, we sequenced the full-length cDNA from the Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei Vg gene (LvVg). This is the first open thelycum penaeid shrimp Vg cDNA to be sequenced.