IDENTIFICATION AND MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF A CHITIN BINDING-LIKE PROTEIN FROM FENNEROPENAEUS CHINENSIS (OSBECK, 1765)

In this study, a chitin-binding-like protein was cloned and characterized from Fenneropenaeus chinensis (Osbeck, 1765) and named as FcCBP. The results indicated that the full length DNA of 2098 bp with four introns, had an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 190 amino acids. The calculated molecular mass of the mature protein was 20.2 kDa and the theoretical pI was 5.93. The FcCBP shared a conserved ChtBD2 domain (amino acids 83-154) with six conserved cysteines (33, 75, 85, 124, 127 and 138). A phylogenetic analysis of CBP sequences showed that FcCBP had low homology with the CBPs from other invertebrate groups. qRT-PCR analysis indicated that FcCBP was expressed in intestine, hepatopancreas, muscle, and gill tissues, and its profile was increased significantly post WSSV (White Spot Syndrome Virus) challenge in the hepatopancreas and gills, followed again by a decreasing trend. These results indicate that FcCBP might be involved in the immune defense response to WSSV in E chinensis.