1. A molting chemical cue (N-acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate) contributes to cannibalism of Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis.
- Author
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Zi, Xinyuan, Li, Yifan, Li, Gang, Jia, Bingchan, Jeppesen, Erik, Zeng, Qingfei, and Gu, Xiaohong
- Subjects
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MOLTING , *CHINESE mitten crab , *CANNIBALISM - Abstract
• We selected a candidate molting biomarker, GlcNAc-6-P, of the E. sinensis. • We identified substances in the molting fluid by metabolomics techniques. • The GlcNAc-6-P is associated with the catabolism of chitin. • Non-molting crabs locate molting crabs by sensing molting chemical cues. Under high-density culture, cannibalism occurs frequently during the molting of the Chinese mitten crabs Eriocheir sinensis , resulting in a large reduction in production. We found that the leakage of molting fluid from sexually immature crabs informs conspecifics that they are in a molting process. This hypothesis was verified through metabolomics analyses combined with behavioral experiments. The GlcNAc-6-P was identified as a molting biomarker from the differential metabolites by non-targeted metabolomics. In addition, we found that the concentration of GlcNAc-6-P in the molting fluid was significantly higher than other molting metabolites at different molting stages, reaching 5.84 μmol L−1, indicating that the molting fluid was the source of GlcNAc-6-P. Moreover, the behavioral experiments showed that crabs were actively approached to high concentrations of GlcNAc-6-P (1 μmol L−1), but had no obvious choice tendency at different concentrations of UTP, 20-HE and low concentrations of GlcNAc-6-P (0.1 μmol L−1, 0.01 μmol L−1) compared with the control groups. In conclusion, that E. sinensis by sensing the concentration change of GlcNAc-6-P can locate the source of GlcNAc-6-P release and actively approach the high concentration GlcNAc-6-P area and attack the molting crab, causing cannibalism. Blocking the reception pathway of molting chemical cues in E. sinensis , thereby preventing the perception of signals originating from conspecifics' molting in the vicinity, could lead to a reduction in cannibalistic behavior and an increase in overall production. Additionally, this method presents a prospective solution for addressing cannibalism in other crustacean species where such behavior is prevalent. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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