Abstract: To investigate the inhibitory component PRAS40 of mTORC1 in regulating the growth and metabolism on crustaceans, the cDNA sequence encoding PRAS40 inEriocheir sinensiswas cloned using RT-PCR technology, and named the protein as EsPRAS40. The coding sequence of the EsPRAS40 cDNA was 1308 bp long and encoded 435 amino acids. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the EsPRAS40 had a PRAS domain, 2 separate long α-helices, a global structure domain formed by multiple anti-parallel β-chains and short α-helices, and the remaining part (58%) was random coils. Phylogenetic analysis showed that EsPRAS40 clustered with the PRAS40 homologous from the crustaceanLitopenaeus vannamei, Daphnia pulex, andDaphnia magna. Quantitative PCR showed that EsPRAS40 was highly expressed in the Y-organ, hepatopancreas, and stomach ofE. sinensislarvae, with the lowest expression in the eye stalk. The expression level of EsPRAS40 mRNA was significantly increased in the claws and hepatopancreas of larvalE. sinensisafter 7 days and 14 days of fasting. The results in this study indicated that the putative mTORC1 inhibitory component PRAS40 involved in regulating the growth and metabolism controlled by mTOR signaling pathway inE. sinensis.

Key words: Eriocheir sinensis, mTORC1, PRAS40, clone, fasting