Expression of Hsp70 in the red swamp crayfish, <em>Procambarus clarkii</em> in response to immune challenge

Abstract

A heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) was identified from *Procambarus clarkii* (named as PcHsp70). The open reading frame of the PcHsp70 cDNA was 1917 bp, encoding a 638 aa protein with signature sequences of the Hsp70 family. Tissue distribution results showed that PcHsp70 has relatively high expression in immune-related tissues such as hepatopancreas, gill, and hemocytes. The expressions of PcHsp70 in hepatopancreas and gill were significantly induced by Gram-positive bacterium, Gram-negative bacterium, and white spot syndrome virus stimulation, indicating that PcHsp70 may be involved in the immune response to pathogen invasion. The research will provide a foundation for understanding the resistance and stress mechanism of Hsp70 in *P. clarkii*.