Transcriptomics revealed the effect of astaxanthin on apoptosis and immunity of the adult prawn of Exopalaemon carinicauda.

Astaxanthin (Axn), a common aquatic feed additive, can enhance immunity, improve the antioxidant capacity of the crustacean and then improve the anti-stress ability of crustaceans. Exopalaemon carinicauda (E. carinicauda) is an economically important fishery species in China that has been found that dietary Axn can significantly increase ACP and AKP compared to a control diet for shrimp hepatopancreas in this study. RNA-sequencing and comparative transcriptomic analyses were utilized to explore changes in E. carinicauda gene expression following Axn feeding. Differential gene expression analyses comparing the control and Axn groups identified 631 transcripts that were differentially expressed following Axn feeding, of which 314 and 317 were respectively upregulated and downregulated. Functional enrichment analyses of these genes revealed their enrichment in 22 Gene Ontology categories and 11 KEGG pathways. In the GO and KEGG enrichment analysis, it was found that dietary astaxanthin can regulate the gene expression level of adult E. carinicauda. Many of the signal pathways enriched by these genes are related to immunity, apoptosis and anti-stress. In addition, through KEGG enrichment analysis, it was found that dietary Axn could also regulate the amino acid metabolism of hepatopancreas of adult E. carinicauda. The comprehensive comparative transcriptomic analysis showed that Axn could improve the hepatopancreatic immunity and anti-apoptosis ability of adult E. carinicauda.