Project description:Acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) is a shrimp farming disease, caused by a pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus carrying a plasmid encoding Vp_PirAB-like toxin (VpAHPND). Whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei were fed food pellets containing formalin-killed VpAHPND (FKC-VpAHPND) to select for toxin resistance. To identify genes associated with Vp_PirAB-like toxin resistance, total RNA was sequenced to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the stomach and hepatopancreas among surviving shrimp (sur-FKC), AHPND-infected shrimp (Vp-inf) and normal shrimp (control). From a total of 79,591 genes, 194 and 224 DEGs were identified in the stomach and hepatopancreas transcriptomes, respectfully. The expressions of DEGs were validated by qPCR of ten genes. Only one gene, a gene homologous to L vannamei anti-lipopolysaccharide factor AV-R isoform (LvALF AV-R), was expressed significantly more strongly in sur-FKC than in the other groups. The association of LvALF AV-R expression and toxin resistance was affirmed from the surviving shrimp in a second-trial of FKC-VpAHPND feeding. These results suggest that LvALF AV-R may be involved in shrimp defense mechanisms against Vp_PirAB-like toxin virulence.