Portunus trituberculatus Proteome. Portunus trituberculatus

The swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus) is an economically important marine crustacean species. Here, isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) analysis was used to identify proteins that are differentially expressed during larval development in P. trituberculatus with the aim of elucidating the underlying mechanisms for larval development. In comparison with the Z1, 3980 proteins were identified from 32,789 peptides, which were matched with 115,497 spectrums. A total of 241 were screened for significantly differentially expressed at all development stages. These 241 differentially expressed proteins were involved in various biological processes, such as cytoskeleton organization, protein synthesis, energy production and substance metabolism, physiological activities, and transport. Cluster analyses of the 241 differentially expressed proteins led to the generation of four protein clusters based on the overall similarity in protein expression patterns. Throughout the development stages, it was found that muscle development and exoskeleton renewal were obvious. Also, protein synthesis, degradation and digestion were active, especially at Z4 stage. These results provide novel insights into the mechanisms underlying larval development in swimming crab and could assist in larval rearing.