Dietary Arginine Drives Spermidine Synthase-Mediated Endogenous Spermidine Biosynthesis to Promote Steroidogenesis and Ovarian Development in the Swimming Crab (Portunus trituberculatus).

Authors

Xiaoyue Li, Tiantian Xu, Zheng Tang, Yinqiu Tian, Xishuai Cui, Peng Sun, Wenli Zhao, Tingting Zhu, Min Jin, Qicun Zhou

Published in

The Journal of nutritional biochemistry. Pages 110519. Oct 12, 2026. Epub Oct 12, 2026.

Abstract

Ovarian development is governed by coordinated metabolic and endocrine signals. Although arginine (Arg) is vital for ovarian development, the mechanism underlying the coupling of amino‑acid metabolism with steroidogenesis by dietary Arg remains elusive in crustaceans. Here, integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were employed to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying Arg-regulated ovarian development in the swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus). Crabs fed a diet containing 2.65% Arg exhibited the highest gonadosomatic index and accelerated ovarian development. Hepatopancreatic metabolomics revealed enhanced polyamine metabolism and energy metabolism, while ovarian multi-omics identified spermidine synthase (SPDS) as a key regulator of spermidine biosynthesis and steroidogenesis. Functional validation using ovarian explants and Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells demonstrated that Arg activated polyamine metabolism and steroidogenic pathways. Moreover, spds knockdown markedly inhibited downstream steroidogenic gene expression in ovarian explants and S2 cells. Exogenous spermidine supplementation enhanced steroid synthesis in S2 cells, but the level remained significantly lower than that of the Arg group. Functional validation indicated that spds is a key target in Arg-mediated ovarian development, and the endogenous spermidine produced by spds regulates ovarian development in crustaceans. In conclusion, these findings demonstrate that dietary Arg promotes ovarian development by activating an SPDS-dependent endogenous spermidine biosynthetic pathway that couples polyamine metabolism with steroidogenesis, providing mechanistic insights into amino acid-regulated reproduction in crustaceans.

PMID:
42863683
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Oct 2026.

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