Molecular cloning and characterization of crustin from mud crab Scylla paramamosain

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are important components of the host innate immune response against microbial invasion. In the present study, we report the identification and characterization of a crustin (CrusSp) from the hemocyte of mud crab, Scylla paramamosain using an expressed sequence tag (EST) and rapid amplification cDNA end (RACE) approaches. Analysis of the nucleotide sequence revealed seven different variances of the CrusSp cDNA in mud crab. The open reading frame encodes a protein of 111 amino acids with 21 residues signal sequence. The predicted molecular mass of the mature protein (90 amino acids) is 10.27 kDa with an estimated pI of 8.54. Analysis of the protein domain features indicated typical conserved cysteine residues containing a single whey acidic protein (WAP) domain at the C-terminus. A neighbour-joining tree showed that S. paramamosain crustin is closely related to other crustin homologues, and displays the highest similarity to crustin antimicrobial peptide in shore crab Carcinus maenas. Four exons and three introns were identified within the 999 bp genomic DNA sequence of CrusSp. Tissue distribution analysis showed that CrusSp was highly expressed in hemocytes, gills, intestines and muscle but it was not expressed in hepatopancreas and eyestalks. To gain insight into the in vitro antimicrobial activities of CrusSp, the mature peptide coding region was cloned into E. coli for heterologous expression. The recombinant CrusSp could inhibit the growth of gram-positive bacteria but had no inhibition activity against gram-negative bacteria. These results indicated the involvement of CrusSp in the innate immunity of S. paramamosain.