Insights into the intestine immune of Marsupenaeus japonicus under the white spot syndrome virus challenge using RNA sequencing

Intestine is not only the nutrients digestion and absorption centers, but also an important place of microbial infection. Therefore, intestine immunity plays a key defense means for the host against the invasion of pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, we use kuruma shrimp (Marsupenaeus japonicas) as a model to study the intestine immune characteristics of shrimp against WSSV through next-generation sequencing technique. A total of 63,458 and 44,350 unigenes were generated from the control sample and the WSSV infection sample, respectively. Based on homology searches, KEGG, GO, and COG analysis, 39,520 unigenes were annotated. Among them, 12,920 differentially expressed genes were identified. Some of them, including mucin, peritrophin, chitinase, et al., are involved in immune response. These results contribute to a better understanding of the intestine immune response of the shrimp to WSSV.