AUTHOR=Liu Fang , Shi Wenyuan , Huang Lin , Wang Guizhong , Zhu Zhihuang , Ye Haihui 

TITLE=Roles of Crustacean Female Sex Hormone 1a in a Protandric Simultaneous Hermaphrodite Shrimp

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.791965

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2021.791965

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=<p>Crustacean female sex hormone (CFSH) plays a pivotal role in the development of secondary sex characteristics in dioecious crustaceans. However, until now the knowledge concerning its functions in hermaphroditic species is scanty. Herein, we explored the function of CFSH (<italic>Lvit-CFSH1a</italic>) in the peppermint shrimp <italic>Lysmata vittata</italic>, a species characterized by a rare reproductive system of protandric simultaneous hermaphroditism (PSH). <italic>Lvit-CFSH1a</italic> cDNA was 1,220-bp in length with a 720-bp ORF encoded a polypeptide of 239-aa. RT-PCR showed that <italic>Lvit-CFSH1a</italic> was exclusively expressed in the eyestalk ganglion. For female physiology, it was found that <italic>Lvit-</italic>CFSH1a was indispensable for the development of female gonopores, but it might not involve vitellogenesis of the species. For male physiology, <italic>Lvit-</italic>CFSH1a suppressed <italic>Lvit-IAG2</italic> expression in short-term silencing experiment and recombinant protein injection experiment, but did not affect male sexual differentiation in long-term silencing experiment. In addition, silencing the <italic>Lvit-CFSH1a</italic> gene impeded individual growth in <italic>L. vittata.</italic></p>