ZOOLOGICAL SCIENCE 22: 675680 (2005) 2005 Zoological Society of Japan

Localization and Developmental Expression of mRNA for Cortical

Rod Protein in Kuruma Prawn Marsupenaeus japonicus
Yi Kyung Kim1*, Naoaki Tsutsui2, Ichiro Kawazoe1, Takuji Okumura3,
Toyoji Kaneko1 and Katsumi Aida1
1
Department of Aquatic Bioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences,
University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
2
Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, Tsukuba,
Ibaraki 305-8686, Japan
3
National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Fisheries Research Agency,
Nansei, Mie 516-0193, Japan

ABSTRACTThe mature penaeid oocytes possess cortical rods that contain two related cortical rod pro-
teins (CRP, 28.6 kDa and 30.5 kDa). In the present study, localization of CRP mRNA and gene expression
profiles of CRP and vitellogenin (Vg) during ovarian development were examined in kuruma prawn, Mar-
supenaeus japonicus, an economically important species for shrimp and prawn farming. Northern blot
analysis revealed that CRP mRNA was expressed in the ovary. In situ hybridization showed strong signals
for CRP transcripts in the oocytes at early developmental stages in both immature and mature ovaries.
Quantitative analysis by real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that CRP mRNA levels were higher
in the previtellogenic and endogenous (primary) vitellogenic stages than in more advanced stages. Unlike
CRP mRNA, Vg mRNA levels were low in the ovary and hepatopancreas in previtellogenic females. When
the ovary developed into the endogenous vitellogenic stage, ovarian Vg mRNA levels increased signifi-
cantly, followed by rapid decrease in more advanced stages. The Vg mRNA levels in the hepatopancreas,
on the other hand, tended to be high in the exogenous (secondary) vitellogenic and maturation stages, in
which ovarian Vg mRNA levels were decreased. Our findings indicate that CRP mRNA is highly expressed
before the onset of vitellogenesis, suggesting that the transcription, translation, and cortical-rod formation
of CRP occur at different phases of oocyte development. The endogenous vitellogenic stage is a crucial
stage for the initiation of CRP and Vg syntheses. The coincidence of these protein syntheses suggests
that CRP and Vg syntheses are regulated by closely-related mechanisms.

Key words: Marsupenaeus japonicus, oogenesis, cortical rod protein, vitellogenin

and then transported to maturing oocytes via hemolymph.

INTRODUCTION
In the female penaeid prawn, gonadal maturation
involves the two crucial phases, vitellogenesis and cortical
rod formation. In the developing ovary, primary oocytes
released from the germinative zone stay in their primary
vitellogenic stage until the onset of secondary vitellogenesis,
which is marked by oocyte growth and rapid accumulation
of yolk proteins (Meusy and Payen, 1988; Avarre et al.,
2001). Vitellogenin (Vg), the major egg yolk protein precur-
sor, is a high-density lipoglycoprotein associated with caro-
tenoid pigments. As in other oviparous animals, the crusta-
cean Vg is generally synthesized by extraovarian tissues
* Corresponding author. Phone: +81-3-5841-5289;
Fax : +81-3-5841-5289;
E-mail: kimyk@marine.fs.a.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Eventually, it is internalized into the developing oocytes, and
subsequently forms vitellin (Vt), which serves as a principal
nutrient reserve for embryonic growth and development
(Tsukimura, 2001).
By the end of vitellogenesis, cortical rods first appear as
spherical bodies in the periphery of the oocyte 12 days
before spawning, and then elongate toward the nucleus as
maturation proceeds, forming club-shaped structures. The
cortical rods are overlain by the vitellin envelope, the out-
most oocyte extracellular investment coat. When the oocyte
is spawned into seawater, cortical rods are rapidly released
into the surrounding medium through disaggregation of the
vitellin envelope, then forming a jelly layer around the oocyte
(Clark et al., 1990). The jelly layer may act to block
polyspermy or to provide a microenvironment for developing
676 Y. K. Kim et al.
embryos (see Guraya, 1982, for review).
In penaeid prawns, ovarian Vt was purified and the
complete sequence of Vg cDNA was determined (Kawazoe
et al., 2000; Tsutsui et al., 2000). In kuruma prawn, Marsu-
penaeus japonicus, ovarian Vt was composed of three
polypeptide subunits of 91 kDa, 128 kDa and 186 kDa, the
precursors of which are produced in the ovarian follicles and
hepatopancreas. In the giant freshwater prawn, Macro-
brachium rosenbergii, Vg mRNA is expressed only in the
hepatopancreas (Yang et al., 2000; Okuno et al., 2002;
Wilder et al., 2002), while the ovarian follicle cells are not
the sites of Vg synthesis.
Despite the prominence of these structures, information
regarding the nature of cortical rods is largely unknown.
Recently, there are several reports on cDNA cloning of cor-
tical rod proteins in penaeid prawns. In Penaeus semisulca-
tus, two related cDNAs encoding cortical rod proteins have
been cloned. These proteins were named shrimp ovarian
peritrophin (SOP) because of its structural homology with
insect intestinal peritrophin (Khayat et al., 2001). We have
previously reported that two related proteins (28.6 kDa and
30.5 kDa) are localized in cortical rods in the mature ovary
of kuruma prawn, and subsequently corresponding cDNAs
were cloned based on their N-terminal amino acid
sequences (Kim et al., 2004). These proteins were termed
cortical rod proteins (CRP), of which deduced amino acid
sequences showed high similarities to those of SOP. The
western blot analysis has revealed that these proteins are
present in the endogenous (primary) vitellogenic ovary,
when cortical rod structures are not yet formed. Yamano et
al. (2003, 2004) have reported the presence of other com-
ponents with molecular mass of 130 kDa, 140 kDa and 150
kDa in cortical rods of kuruma prawn. Based on a sequence
homology to extracellular matrix proteins in a thrombospodin
(TSP), the cDNAs encoding those three proteins were des-
ignated as mjTSP; i.e., marsupenaeus japonicus TSP.
Moreover, a 200 kDa protein has been found in cortical rods
of Litopenaeus vannamei, although its cDNA and amino acid
sequences have not been published nor deposited in data-
bases (Bradfield et al., 1989).
Little is known about regulatory mechanisms of CRP
and Vg syntheses during ovarian development. Our previ-
ous study (Kim et al., 2004) has shown that accumulation of
CRP and Vt in the oocytes starts at the endogenous (pri-
mary) vitellogenic stage in kuruma prawn. This suggests
that the onset of CRP and Vt accumulation is linked to each
other and that those biological events are regulated by
closely-related mechanisms. On the other hand, crustacean
hyperglycemic hormone (CHH) family peptides produced in
the X-organ have been implicated in inhibiting vitellogenesis
and cortical rod protein synthesis (De Kleijin and Van Herp,
1998; Khayat et al., 1998; Avarre et al., 2001). Thus, a
decline in secretion of CHH peptide is likely to stimulate
CRP and Vg syntheses. However, relationship has not yet
been examined between CRP and Vg gene expressions
during ovarian development. Furthermore, the production
site of CRP has not yet been determined.
The kuruma prawn is an economically important spe-
cies for shrimp and prawn farming. In captivity, kuruma
prawn is mostly incapable of forming cortical rods, and thus
their reproductive potential decreases under culture condi-
tions (Medina et al., 1996). The understanding of CRP-gene
expression patterns would give some insights into the mech-
anism of cortical rod formation and successful artificial pro-
duction of prawn juveniles for culture. In the present study,
we first examined tissue and cellular distribution of CRP
transcripts in kuruma prawn, and then clarified the gene
expression profile of CRP during ovarian development, com-
paring with those of Vg in the ovary and hepatopancreas.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Animals
Immature and mature female kuruma prawns were obtained
from the Momoshima National Center for Stock Enhancement,
Fisheries Research Agency in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. At the
time of sampling, a part of the ovary was fixed in Bouins solution
for histological observation in order to determine its developmental
stage.
In the present study, ovarian development was divided into five
stages according to Tsutsui et al. (2000). Since the kuruma prawn
is a multiple spawner in a single breeding season, the mature ovary
contains various stages of oocytes including previtellogenic ones.
Therefore, the ovarian developmental stages were defined accord-
ing to the most advanced oocytes in the ovary. The immature ovary
including chromatin nucleolus and perinucleolus stage oocytes is
classified into the previtellogenic ovary; the ovary where PAS-pos-
itive granule stage oocytes are dominant is grouped as the endog-
enous (primary) vitellogenic stage; the ovary characterized by early
yolk globule stage oocytes is grouped as the early exogenous (sec-
ondary) vitellogenic stage; the ovary including dominant late yolk
globule stage oocytes is grouped as the late exogenous (second-
ary) vitellogenic stage; and the ovary including early and late corti-
cal alveoli stage oocytes, characterized by appearance of cortical
rods, is classified into the maturation stage.
Northern blot analysis
For Northern blot analysis, we used immature (body weight,
20.1 g) and mature (87.3 g) kuruma prawns, the gonadosomatic
index (GSI) being 0.3 and 3.7%, respectively. The ovaries from both
immature and mature prawns, and hepatopancreas, muscle, intes-
tine and fan blade from the mature kuruma prawn were dissected
out, frozen in liquid nitrogen, and stored at 80C until total RNA
extraction. Total RNA was isolated from these tissues using RNA
extraction solution (ISOGEN, Nippongene, Toyama, Japan). Ten
micrograms of total RNA was subjected to electrophoresis on a
1.2% formaldehyde-agarose gel and transferred onto a BIODYNE
B membrane (Pall, East Hills, NY, USA). Because of the high iden-
tity between two CRPs (Kim et al., 2004), Northern blot and the fol-
lowing analyses were performed without distinguishing the two pro-
teins. A cDNA fragment, corresponding to nucleotides 461813 in
both 28.6 kDa and 30.5 kDa CRPs, was labeled with [-32P] dCTP
(Amersham Biosciences, Upaasala, Sweden) using the
Megaprime DNA labeling system (Amersham Biosciences). The
membrane was prehybridized in 6 SSC containing 50% forma-
mide, 2 Denhardts solution, 0.4% SDS and calf thymus DNA (40
g/ ml) at 42C for 1 hr. The membrane was then labeled with the
radiolabeled probe (9.1105 cpm/ml) in prehybridization buffer at
42C at 3 hr. After washing in 2 SSC containing 0.1% SDS at 60C
 Cortical Rod Protein in Kuruma Prawn 677

for 10 min, the membrane was exposed to a X-ray film (Fuji Film, Statistics
Tokyo, Japan). RNA ladder (GIBCOBRL, Gaithersburg, MD, USA) The results are expressed as meansstandard errors of the
was used as molecular mass markers. means. CRP mRNA levels in the ovary and Vg mRNA levels in the
ovary and hepatopancreas were tested for significance (P<0.05)
In situ hybridization using one-way ANOVA, followed by Newman-Keuls test.
For in situ hybridization, an immature ovary (body weight, 35.4
g; GSI, 0.6%) and a mature ovary (body weight, 62.5 g; GSI, 11.9
%) were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) in 0.1 M phosphate RESULTS
buffer (PB, pH 7.4). The ovaries were dehydrated through an etha-
nol series, and embedded in Paraplast. Sections (6 m) were cut Tissue distribution of CRP mRNA
and mounted on MAS-coated glass slides (Matsunami, Osaka, Tissue-specific expression of CRP mRNA was exam-
Japan). The localization of CRP mRNA was examined using a ined by Northern blot analysis (Fig. 1). Hybridization signals
digoxigenin (DIG)-labeled oligonucleotide probe. The oligonucle- were observed in the ovaries from immature and mature
otides for antisense and sense probes corresponding to nucleotides
kuruma prawns, but no signal was detected in the other tis-
401-444 in CRP (Kim et al., 2004) were synthesized by Hokkaido
System Science (Sapporo, Japan). sues examined. The size of the mRNA (approximately 1 kb)
Hybridization was carried out according to the method reported corresponded to that of cDNA for CRP obtained previously
previously (Uchida et al., 1998) with some modifications. After (Kim et al., 2004).
deparaffinization and hydration, sections were processed as fol-
lows: (1) 0.2 M HCl for 15 min, (2) 5 g/ml proteinase K (Wako,
Osaka, Japan) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, pH 7.4) for 10
min, (3) 4% PFA in 0.1 M PB (pH 7.4) for 10 min, and (4) 0.2% gly-
cine in PBS for 15 min. Following preincubation with a solution con-
sisting of 40% formamide and 2 SSC for 1 hr at room temperature,
sections were hybridized with either the antisense or sense probe
(1 g/ml) at 37C for 20 hr in hybridization buffer consisting 40%
formamide, 2 SSC, 20 mM Tris-HCl (pH 7.6), 1 Denhardts, 0.1%
Tween-20, 10% dextran sulfate, and 25 g/ml calf thymus DNA.
Sections were washed sequentially with: (1) 2 SSC for 30 min at
room temperature, (2) 2 times in 1 SSC (15 min each) at 40C,
and (3) 2 SSC for 30 min. Sections were then incubated with an
anti-digoxigenin-gold (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Ger-
many) and visualized using a Silver Enhancing kit (British BioCell
International).

Real-time quantitative PCR analysis

Real-time quantitative PCR was performed using an ABI
PRISM 7700 Sequence Detector (Perkin-Elmer, Branchburg, NJ,
Fig. 1. Tissue specific expression of CRP mRNA examined by
USA) to examine changes in gene expressions of CRP and Vg dur-
Northern blot analysis. Total RNA (10 g) was electrophoresed,
ing oocyte maturation. From prawns weighing 59.587.7 g with GSI
transferred to a nylon membrane, and hybridized with 32P-labeled
values ranging 1.611.4%, total RNA was isolated from the ovary
CRP cDNA corresponding to nucleotides 461813. A single CRP
and hepatopancreas, and treated with DNase (Invitrogen, Carlsbad,
transcript is detected in immature (lane 1) and mature (lane 2) ova-
CA, USA). First strand cDNA was synthesized from 1 g total RNA
ries, but not detected in the hepatopancreas (lane 3), muscle (lane
using the Superscript first-strand synthesis system for RT-PCR
4), intestine (lane 5), and fan blade (lane 6). The molecular markers
with random hexamers according to manufacturers instructions
are presented on the left.
(Invitrogen). For CRP, a specific primer pair, F (5'-GAATGACTTTC-
GACCAAGGCA-3')/R (5'-AAGGTACCCGACATCGTGCA-3') and a
Taqman probe (5'-AAGGGTGGAAGTAGCGATGCGTCACA-3')
were designed (Kim et al., 2004). Primers for Vg mRNA, F (5'-
In situ hybridization
AACATCGCCCAAATCCTCTCT-3')/R (5'- GGCACTCAAAGCCCA-
CAAAA-3') and a Taqman probe (5'- CCTGGCAATTTGCAGACCG- The cellular expression of CRP mRNA was determined
GCA-3') were designed based on Vg cDNA (Tsutsui et al., 2000). in the ovaries of immature and mature kuruma prawns by in
The PCR products amplified with the primers were used for the situ hybridization (Fig. 2). The immature ovary consisted
quantification of CRP and Vg transcripts. Primers and probes were mostly of previtellogenic oocytes, whereas the mature ovary
designed using PRIMER EXPRESS software version 1.0 (Perkin-
contained oocytes at different developmental stages simul-
Elmer). The plasmid DNAs containing the amplified parts of target
mRNAs were prepared as standard samples, which were serially taneously. In the immature ovary, intense signals for CRP
diluted. The PCR mixture consisted of 0.2 M of each primer, 0.2 transcripts were observed in the oocytes at the previtello-
M Taqman probe and 12.5 l Platinum Quantitative PCR Super- genic stage (Fig. 2A). In the mature ovary, signals for CRP
mix-UDG (Invitrogen) in a final volume of 25 l. The cycling param- mRNA were evident in the previtellogenic oocytes, but not
eter was as follows: 2 min at 95C followed by 40 cycles at 95C
detected in more advanced oocytes (Fig. 2B). The CRP
for 15 s and 60C for 1 min. Results were analyzed using PRIZM
software (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA, USA) and transcripts were found in the cytoplasm of the previtello-
expressed as the copy number of the target mRNA per 1 g total genic oocytes, but not in follicle cells surrounding the
RNA. oocytes. No signal was seen in the control sections incu-
bated with the sense probe (data not shown).
678 Y. K. Kim et al.

Fig. 2. Localization of CRP mRNA in the ovary examined by in situ

hybridization. Hybridization signals for CRP mRNA are detected
only in previtellogenic oocytes in both immature (A) and mature (B)
ovaries, but not in more advanced oocytes. An arrow indicates an
oocyte at the late exogenous stage. Bar, 50 m.

Changes in CRP and Vg gene expressions during ova-

rian maturation
The expression levels of CRP and Vg mRNAs at vari-
ous stages of ovarian development were determined by
real-time quantitative RT-PCR (Fig. 3). The copy number of
CRP mRNA per 1 g total RNA in the ovary was higher in
previtellogenic and endogenous vitellogenic stages than in
the later developmental stages (Fig. 3A). The levels of CRP Fig. 3. Changes in gene expressions of CRP in the ovary (A) and
mRNA in previtellogenic and endogenous vitellogenic Vg in the ovary (B) and hepatopancreas (C) during ovarian develop-
females were approximately 3 times higher than those in the ment. Ovaries were classified into five developmental stages: previ-
tellogenic stage (1), endogenous vitellogenic stage (2), early
maturation stage. However, no significant changes were
exogenous vitellogenic stage (3), late exogenous vitellogenic stage
seen when re-calculated on the basis of the copy number (4), and maturation stage (5). Values are meansSEM (n=35). Sig-
per ovary (data not shown). The amount of Vg transcripts in nificant dfference (P<0.05) is indicated by different letters.
the ovary was significantly (P<0.05) greater in the endoge-
nous vitellogenic stage than in the other developmental DISCUSSION
stages (Fig. 3B). In contrast, Vg gene expression in the
hepatopancreas showed a tendency to increase as the The oocyte synthesizes and stores a variety of proteins
oocyte maturation proceeded (Fig. 3C). during its development. While some proteins found in devel-
oping oocytes are produced by themselves, other molecules
 Cortical Rod Protein in Kuruma Prawn
including yolk materials are synthesized by extraovarian tis-
sues and incorporated into oocytes. During oogenesis in
penaeid prawns, the oocytes accumulate vitellin and cortical
rod proteins as major proteins. Cortical rods contain several
proteins, including SOP, mjTSP and CRP. These proteins
exhibited similar characteristics in the following aspects:
similarities in cDNA and deduced amino acid sequences,
gene expression in the young oocytes, and post-transla-
tional modification such as glycosylation. In the present
study, a single transcript of CRP was detected in the ovary,
but not in the other tissues examined (Fig. 1). In our previ-
ous study (Kim et al., 2004), CRP-immunopositive signals
were detected in kuruma prawn oocytes. Taken together, it
is likely that the CRP mRNA originates from the oocytes, as
suggested for SOP in P. semisulcatus and for mjTSP in
kuruma prawn (Khayat et al., 2001; Yamano et al., 2004).
Rankin and Davis (1990) have demonstrated that the
oocytes of L. vannamei are responsible for synthesis of cor-
tical rod proteins, which are subsequently accumulated
within the developing extracellular cortical rods.
The preferential localization of CRP mRNA in the
oocytes and change in CRP mRNA levels during the ovarian
development suggest that CRP synthesis in the oocytes is
under translational control, as shown for SOP and mjTSP
(Avarre et al., 2001; Yamano et al., 2004). The previtello-
genic oocytes of kuruma prawn transcribed and accumu-
lated CRP mRNA in the cytoplasms, but protein synthesis of
CRP did not start until the endogenous vitellogenic stage
(Kim et al., 2004). In situ hybridization in the ovary of
kuruma prawn revealed intense signals of CRP transcripts
in the oocytes at early developmental stages in both imma-
ture and mature ovaries (Fig. 2A and B); the CRP transcripts
were detectable in the previtellogenic oocytes, but not
detected in maturing and fully matured oocytes. As in mjTSP
and SOP, CRP was present in the endogenous vitellogenic
ovary as revealed by the western blot analysis, although
cortical rods were not yet formed in this early developmental
stage of the oocyte (Kim et al., 2004). With the onset of
translation, CRP transcripts disappeared from vitellogenic
oocytes, indicating that CRP synthesis is regulated at the
translational level.
To further examine the expression patterns of CRP and
Vg genes during ovarian development, real-time PCR was
performed (Fig. 3). In the ovary, there were significant
changes in CRP and Vg mRNA levels during ovarian devel-
opment. As shown in Fig. 3A, CRP mRNA levels, calculated
on the basis of the copy number per 1 g total RNA, were
higher in the previtellogenic and endogenous vitellogenic
stages than in more advanced stages. However, there was
no significant change in the levels throughout the five ova-
rian stages, when re-calculated on the basis of the copy
number per ovary. These findings indicate that there was no
difference in the total CRP transcript content between small
immature and enlarged mature ovaries. Considering that a
fully mature ovary contains immature oocytes in addition to
mature ones, it is most likely that CRP mRNA is intensively
679
expressed in the immature oocytes of previtellogenic and
endogenous vitellogenic stages. This is also supported by
our observation that in situ hybridization signals were
detected only in immature oocytes regardless of ovarian
maturity.
The Vg mRNA levels changed significantly during the
ovarian development. Vg mRNA levels were low in the ovary
and hepatopancreas in previtellogenic females. When the
ovary developed into the endogenous vitellogenic stage,
ovarian Vg mRNA levels increased significantly, followed by
a rapid decrease in more advanced stages. The Vg mRNA
levels in the hepatopancreas, on the other hand, tended to
be high in exogenous vitellogenic and maturation stages,
when ovarian Vg mRNA levels were decreased. These
results indicate that the expression site of the Vg gene may
shift from the ovary to hepatopancreas, as the oocytes
develop toward the maturation stage. This is in accordance
with the Vg gene expression pattern of kuruma prawn
reported by Tsutsui et al. (2000, 2005).
In the present study, gene expressions of CRP in the
ovary and Vg in the ovary and hepatopancreas showed dif-
ferent patterns during ovarian development. The CRP
mRNA levels in the ovary were higher in the previtellogenic
and endogenous (primary) vitellogenic stages than in the
advaneced stages; in contrast, Vg mRNA levels in the ovary
increased at the endogenous (primary) vitellogenic stage
and levels in the hepatopancreas increased in the exoge-
nous (secondary) vitellogenesis and maturation stages. In
our previous study, western blot analysis revealed the pres-
ence of CRP in the endogenous vitellogenic stage (Kim et
al., 2004). Taken together, it is most probable that CRP
accumulation starts in the endogenous vitellogenic stage
and CRP mRNA decreases between the endogenous and
exogenous vitellogenic stages. On the other hand, Vg
mRNA begins to increase in the endogenous vitellogenic
stage concomitant with Vt accumulation in the oocytes.
From these results, the endogenous vitellogenic stage is
considered to be a crucial stage for CRP and Vg syntheses.
Such profiles of CRP and Vg/Vt suggest closely-related reg-
ulatory mechanisms of their syntheses.
In general, protein synthesis is required for oocyte mat-
uration and the following early embryonic development, but
in many organisms protein synthesis utilizes transcripts that
had been synthesized during oogenesis and stored for later
utilization (Seydoux, 1996; Picton et al., 1998). Furthermore,
the utilization of transcripts during oocyte maturation and
development appears to be highly selective; activation of
stored mRNA can occur at specific stages of oocyte matu-
ration and development. This may also be the case with
CRP, SOP and mjTSP mRNAs. In view of data obtained so
far, the transcription of CRP is most likely to take place only
in the previtellogenic and endogenous vitellogenic oocytes.
The protein synthesis of CRP may start in the endogenous
vitellogenic stage, and the cortical rod structures appear
only in fully mature oocytes. Based on these results, we
concluded that the transcription, translation and cortical-rod
680 Y. K. Kim et al.
formation of CRP occur at different phases of oocyte devel-
opment, which could be regulated by different mechanisms.
In contrast with CRP, gene transcription and translation of
Vg seem to occur consecutively in the ovary and hepatopan-
creas. The gene expression patterns, however, are appar-
ently different between the two organs, presumably being
under different control.
CHH peptides are considered to play important roles in
the ovarian development. CHH peptides inhibit ovarian pro-
tein synthesis in P. semisulcatus (Khayat et al., 1998), and
also decreased SOP synthesis at the translational level in
the same species (Avarre et al., 2001). CHH peptide levels
in hemolymph and CHH peptide mRNA levels in the X-
organs decreased during yolk accumulation (De Kleijn et al.,
1998). These results suggest that the reduction of CHH lev-
els triggers the onset of the ovarian protein synthesis (De
Kleijn and Van Herp, 1998). Considering the similarity
between CRP and SOP, it is expected that CRP synthesis
is also under the inhibitory control of CHH peptides. It would
be of great interest to examine effects of CHH peptides on
CRP synthesis in kuruma prawn at both transcriptional and
translational levels.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are grateful to the Momoshima National Center for Stock
Enhancement, Fisheries Research Agency for providing the exper-
imental animals. The present study was supported in part by a Fish-
eries Research Agency project (Development of seed production
and releasing techniques for stock enhancement of marine
resources considering the conservation of ecosystem).
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(Received December 27, 2004 / Accepted March 28, 2005)