In order to explore the epigenetic regulatory mechanism of low-sainity tolerance traits in swimming crab(Portunus trituberculatus),structure,similarity,phylogeny,and tissue expression of aldehyde dehydrogenase(Al-dh)gene were investigated in swimming crab with body weight of(35.5±2.8)g and gene expression,malondialde-hyde(MDA)content,and DNA methylation patterns were probed in the swimming crab exposed to salinity of 11 mg/L(LC50 in 72 h from the pretest).The results showed that swimming crab had the maximal similarity in conserved structural domains in Aldh in swimming crab to those found in Chinese mitten handed crab Eriocheir sinensis.Real time PCR analysis revealed that the Aldh gene was expressed in all the test tissues,with the maximal expression level in the gills.Moreover,significant decrease in the expression level of the Aldh gene in the swimming crab exposed to low salinity stress(P＜0.05),coupled with a noticeable increase in MDA content.The BS-PCR results indicated a significant increase in the methylation level of the Aldh gene in swimming crab exposed to low sa-linity stress following for 72 hours with negative correlation with gene expression(P＜0.05).It was found that DNA methylation of the Aldh gene was likely involved in regulation of the response to low salinity stress in the gill tissue of swimming crab,primarily by suppressing of the expression of the Aldh gene.The finding offers valuable reference for understanding of the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms underlying the low salinity tolerance trait in swimming crab.
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