Impact of molt-disrupting BDE-47 on epidermal ecdysteroid signaling in the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, in vitro.

•A partial sequence of NAG cDNA from Callinectes sapidus epidermis was acquired.•An epidermis-with-exoskeleton (EWE) tissue culture method was described.•The expression of epidermal NAG gene was inducible in vitro by 20-hydroxyecdysone.•BDE-47 upregulated NAG mRNA in the cultured epidermis.•The mechanism for disruption of crustacean molting by BDE-47 was discussed.