Digestive enzyme activity and mRNA level of trypsin in embryonic redclaw crayfish, Cherax quadricarnatus

The digestive enzyme activity and mRNA level of trypsin during the embryonic development of Cherax quadricarinatus were analyzed using biochemical and Fluorogenic Quantitative PCR (FQ—PCR) methods. The results show that the activities of trypsin and chymotrypsin had two different change patterns. Trypsin specific activity increased rapidly in the early stages of development and still remained high in preparation for the hatch stage. However, chymotrypsin activity peaked in stage 4 of embryonic development and decreased significantly in the last stage. The mRNA level of trypsin was elevated in all stages and two peak values were observed in stages 2 and 5 respectively. The results indicate that trypsin is very important for the utilization of the yolk during embryonic development and for the assimilation of dietary protein for larvae. The gene of trypsin is probably regulated at transcriptional level. The mRNA levels of trypsin can reflect not only trypsin activity, but also the regulatory mechanism for expression of trypsin gene to a certain degree.