BREAKER, Rioshannon*; HERNANDEZ, Jazmir; WILLIAMS, Judith; Univ. of Southern Miss Gulf Coast; Univ. of Southern Miss Gulf Coast; Univ. of Southern Miss Gulf Coast: The Expression of PBAN-like Peptides in Two Ontogenetic Stages of the Commercial White Shrimp Litopenaeus setiferus From The Gulf of Mexico

Pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN) is a well characterized insect neuropeptide controlling production and release of pheromones during mate seeking behavior. These neuropeptides are produced in the brain/ganglia of the insects and are thought to be released into the hemolymph to reach target secretory cells. Increasing evidence suggests that PBAN (a member of the FXPRLamide family, characterized by the active 5-amino acid C-terminal sequence) is found in crustacea, such as shrimp and copepods. Our research shows that PBAN-like activity is indeed expressed in the neural tissue of the commercial white shrimp. We investigated juvenile white shrimp, averaging 80mm and adult shrimp averaging 140mm in length to see if there was a difference in expression of the neuropeptide based on ontogenetic stage. Fresh shrimp brain and portions of the antennal neural tissue were dissected on ice and immediately frozen at -80C. The expression of PBAN homogenized tissue was assessed by ELISA using a Hez-PBAN monoclonal antibody. We found a significantly (p <0.001) higher expression of PBAN in adults (118.4 ng per ml +/- 12; n= 19) versus juvenile white shrimp (66 ng per ml +/- 6; n=30) These results indicate that insect PBAN or a PBAN-like neuropeptide is indeed expressed in shrimp neural tissue and brain and the level of expression is age-dependent. This is the first evidence of insect PBAN-like expression in the commercial white shrimp and that PBAN-like activity changes with developmental stages in crustacea. Supported by NSF-SGRE #24355000008.