Identification and functional analysis of proteins in Pomacea canaliculate gut contents: a proteomics analysis

Abstract Pomacea canaliculate is an invasive pest originating from South America. It has strong adaptability to the environment and can endanger local biodiversity, agricultural production, and human health. P. canaliculate can ingest a wide variety of food by a well-developed digestive and diverse feeding mechanisms. Aiming to target the digestive system as the way to control the spread of P. canaliculate , we conducted quantitative proteomics to comprehensively elucidate the protein composition in the gut contents of P. canaliculate . Liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay suggested that 845 proteins and 5861 unique peptides were identified in the gut contents of P. canaliculate. Among of the proteins, the EF-hand domain-containing proteins are the most abundance proteins. It has been suggested that EF-hand domain-containing proteins may participate in the formation of calcareous eggshell. Additionally, we discussed the structure and function of 11 cellulases detected from the gut contents of P. canaliculate. These cellulases were divided into three groups belonging to the Glycoside hydrolase family 9, Glycoside hydrolase family 10 and Glycoside hydrolase family 45, respectively. Notably, these cellulases play an important role in the digestion of cellulose. These findings put forth novel possibilities for exploring new safe, easy and efficient control measures of P. canaliculate.