Meta-analysis to Unravel Core Transcriptomic Responses in Penaeus vannamei Exposed to Biotic and Abiotic Stresses

Shrimp farming, a dominant economic activity in coastal areas, is affected by different abiotic and biotic stress factors. These stressors, under poor management conditions, could affect growth and health of farmed animals. Understanding the common gene expressions in response to stress, regardless of the specific stress factor, holds significant importance in the field of functional genomics. Scope of this study is to identify the core transcriptomic responses in the shrimp species Penaeus vannamei exposed to various abiotic and biotic stress conditions and to decipher their functional importance. To achieve our objective, we gathered and analyzed multiple RNA-seq datasets related to twelve abiotic and nine biotic stress conditions. Through the in silico meta-analysis, we predicted 961 differentially expressed genes (meta-DEGs) for abiotic stress conditions and 517 meta-DEGs for biotic stress conditions, respectively. These meta-DEGs represent genes that are commonly expressed across different stress factors and are indicative of the organism's general response to stress. The annotation of nineteen core up-regulated meta-DEGs revealed their diverse functions in detoxification, cell adhesion, metal ion binding, and oxidative phosphorylation. These genes play a crucial role in stress response and immune defense. For abiotic stress, significant pathways associated with the stress response include tryptophan metabolism, starch and sucrose metabolism, fatty acid degradation, carbohydrate digestion and absorption, phenylalanine metabolism, drug metabolism-other enzymes, arachidonic acid metabolism, and fatty acid elongation. Similarly, for biotic stress, metabolism of xenobiotics by cytochrome P450, pentose and glucuronate interconversions, steroid hormone biosynthesis, and drug metabolism-cytochrome P450 were found to be significant pathway associations. In addition, the study also predicted 17 stress regulatory motifs present in the identified meta-DEGs. These motifs have significance in identifying the stress responses of the organism. The metabolic pathways and regulatory motifs associated with abiotic and biotic stress factors identified through this study could be a valuable resource for developing stress management approaches in shrimp aquaculture.