Molecular properties and immune defense of two ferritin subunits from freshwater pearl mussel,Hyriopsis schlegelii

Ferritin is a conserved iron-binding protein involved in cellular iron metabolism and host defense. In the present study, two distinct cDNAs for ferritins in the freshwater pearl mussel Hyriopsis schlegelii were identified (designated as HsFer-1 and HsFer-2) by SMART RACE approach and expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis. The full-length cDNAs of HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 were of 760 and 877 bp, respectively. Both of the two cDNAs contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 522 bp encoding for 174 amino acid residues. Sequence characterization and homology alignment indicated that HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 had higher similarity to H-type subunit of vertebrate ferritins than L-type subunit. Analysis of the HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 untranslated regions (UTR) showed that both of them had an iron response element (IRE) in the 5′-UTR, which was considered to be the binding site for iron regulatory protein (IRP). Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assays were employed to examine the mRNA expression profiles. Under normal physiological conditions, the expression level of both HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 mRNA were the highest in hepatopancreas, moderate in gonad, axe foot, intestine, kidney, heart, gill, adductor muscle and mantle, the lowest in hemocytes. After stimulation with bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila, HsFer-1 mRNA experienced a different degree of increase in the tissues of hepatopancreas, gonad and hemocytes, the peak level was 2.47-fold, 9.59-fold and 1.37-fold, respectively. Comparatively, HsFer-2 showed up-regulation in gonad but down-regulation in hepatopancreas and hemocytes. Varying expression patterns indicate that two types of ferritins in H. schlegelii might play different roles in response to bacterial challenge. Further bacteriostatic analysis showed that both the purified recombinant ferritins inhibited the growth of A. hydrophila to a certain degree. Collectively, our results suggest that HsFer-1 and HsFer-2 are likely to be functional proteins involved in immune defense against bacterial infection.     

A tandem-repeat galectin involved in innate immune response of the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata

The cDNA of a tandem-repeat galectin from the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata (designated PfGal) was cloned by expressed sequence tag (EST) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) techniques. The full-length cDNA of PfGal was 1386 bp, consisting of a 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of 26 bp, a 3′ UTR of 313 bp, and an open reading frame (ORF) of 1047 bp encoding a polypeptide of 348 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 38.09 kDa and theoretical isoelectric point of 8.49. Similar to other tandem-repeat galectins, PfGal contained two tandem carbohydrate recognition domains (CRDs), with typical conserved motifs which were important for carbohydrate recognition, and it appeared to possess neither a signal peptide nor a transmembrane domain. Fluorescent quantitative real-time PCR analyses indicated that PfGal mRNA was highly expressed in hemocytes, digestive gland and mantle, and its expression was increased in all studied tissues after Vibrio alginolyticus challenge. The temporal expression of PfGal mRNA in hemocytes challenged by V. alginolyticus was clearly time-dependent and reached the maximum level at 6 h post-challenge, and then recovered to the original level. These results collectively indicated that PfGal may be involved in the immune response against bacterial infection and clearance of bacterial pathogens in P. fucata.     

Histopathological studies of experimental Aeromonas hydrophila infection in blue tilapia,Oreochromis aureus

Blue tilapia, Oreochromis aureus, was experimentally infected with Aeromonas hydrophila, a bacterium that damages the gills, liver, and intestine, resulting in histopathological changes in the infected organs. Our histopathological study showed an aggregation of hemocytes with cell necrosis in gills; a massive aggregation of hemocytes and pyknotic nuclei in the hepatopancreas; and a lower rate of hemocyte aggregation in the digestive system of the infected fish.     

Expression of allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) in response to bacterial challenge and tissue injury in the pearl oyster,Pinctada martensii

Allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1), an interferon (IFN)-γ-inducible calcium-binding cytokine, is associated with the inflammatory response and defense. We cloned and analyzed the expression pattern of the AIF-1 gene of the pearl oyster Pinctada martensii, hereafter designated PmAIF-1. The full-length PmAIF-1 cDNA is 946 bp in length and consists of a 5′-untranslated region (UTR) of 120 bp, a 3′-UTR of 376 bp, and an open reading frame (ORF) of 450 bp encoding a polypeptide of 149 amino acids with an estimated molecular mass of 17 kDa. Sequence analysis reveals that PmAIF-1 contains two EF hand Ca⁺²-binding motifs like those in previously characterized AIF-1s while alignment with known AIF-1 protein sequences reveals higher similarity to invertebrate orthologs than to those of vertebrates.Quantitative PCR analysis reveals that PmAIF-1 is constitutively expressed, with the highest expression detected in hemocytes, and the expression level of PmAIF-1 mRNA was significantly up-regulated in hemocytes, gill, digestive gland under bacterial challenge and tissue injury. After challenged by gram-negative bacteria Vibrio alginolyticus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis, the expression level of this gene in hemocytes were all up-regulated and reached the maximum point at 12 h (5.80 folds, P < 0.01), 6 h (5.02 folds, P < 0.01) and 12 h (5.49 folds, P < 0.01), respectively. Under shell damage and mantle injury, PmAIF-1 mRNA increased gradually in the first 3 h and reached a peak of expression at 6 h post-injury. These findings suggest that PmAIF-1 is an acute-response protein involved in the innate immune responses of pearl oysters, and provide general information about the mechanisms of innate immune defense against bacterial infection in pearl oysters.     

Cloning and expression of an actin gene in the haemocytes of pearl oyster (Pinctada fucata, Gould 1850)

An actin gene (designated pfact1) of pearl oyster, Pinctada fucata, was cloned from haemocytes by the techniques of homological cloning and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full length of Pfact1 cDNA was 1608 bp in length, having a 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of 82 bp, a 3′ UTR of 395 bp, and an open reading frame (ORF) of 1131 bp encoding a polypeptide of 376 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 41.76 kDa and an estimated isoelectric point of 5.29. Sequence analysis revealed that Pfact1 shared high similarity with other actins and was more closely related to vertebrate cytoplastic actins than muscle types. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that molluscan actins could also be generally grouped into two classes: muscle type and cytoplasmic type, although both are similar to vertebrate cytoplastic actins. Fluorescent real-time quantitative RT-PCR was used to examine the expression level of Pfact1 in haemocytes of P. fucata after the challenge of Vibrio alginolyticus, and results showed that Pfact1 exhibited stable expression in all time points, indicating that Pfact1 could be a suitable internal control for gene expression analysis in haemocytes of P. fucata.     

Isolation and characterization of 18 polymorphic microsatellite loci from freshwater pearl mussel (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cristaria plicata</Emphasis>)

Cristaria plicata was an important freshwater mussel for pearl culture in China. 18 polymorphic microsatellite markers were isolated and characterized using (CA)₁₅-enriched genomic library of C. plicata. These loci showed high levels of genetic polymorphism testing on 60 individuals sampled from Poyang Lake of Jiangxi Province, China. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 18. The expected (H _E) and observed heterozygosities (H _O) were 0.7232–0.8961 and 0.0000–1.0000, respectively. Four microsatellite loci were significantly deviated from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and no linkage disequilibrium was found. These microsatellite loci will be useful for assessment of genetic diversity and population structure in C. plicata.     

Sexually dimorphic expression and regulatory sequence of dnali1 in the olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus

Dynein axonemal light intermediate chain 1 (dnali1) is an important part of axonemal dyneins and plays an important role in the growth and development of animals. However, there is little information about dnali1 in fish. Herein, we cloned dnali1 gene from the genome of olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus), a commercially important maricultured fish in China, Japan, and Korea, and analyzed its expression patterns in different gender fish. The flounder dnali1 DNA sequence contained a 771 bp open reading frame (ORF), two different sizes of 5′ untranslated region (5′UTR), and a 1499 bp 3′ untranslated region (3′UTR). Two duplicated 922 nt fragments were found in dnali1 mRNA. The first fragment contained the downstream coding region and the front portion of 3′UTR, and the second fragment was entirely located in 3′UTR. Multiple alignments indicated that the flounder Dnali1 protein contained the putative conserved coiled-coil domain. Its expression showed sexually dimorphic with predominant expression in the flounder testis, and lower expression in other tissues. The gene with the longer 5′UTR was specifically expressed in the testis. The highest expression level in the testis was detected at stages IV and V. Transient expression analysis showed that the 922 bp repeated sequence 3′UTR of dnali1 down-regulated the expression of GFP at the early stage in zebrafish. The flounder dnali1 might play an important role in the testis, especially in the period of spermatogenesis, and the 5′UTR and the repetitive sequences in 3′UTR might contain some regulatory elements for the cilia.

     

A thioredoxin response to the WSSV challenge on the Chinese white shrimp, Fenneropenaeus chinensis

Thioredoxin (TRX) is involved in cell redox homeostasis. In addition, it is responsible for maintaining proteins in their reduced state. In our study, a Fenneropenaeus chinensis thioredoxin (FcTRX) gene was identified from the Chinese white shrimp. The full length of FcTRX was 777 bp, including a 60 bp 5′ untranslated region (UTR), a 318 bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 105 amino acids protein, and a 399 bp 3′ UTR. FcTRX contained a TRX domain with a conserved motif of Cys-Gly-Pro-Cys (CGPC). No signal peptide was predicted by SMART analysis. The molecular mass and pI of FcTRX were 12 kDa and 4.62, respectively. FcTRX is a widely distributed gene, and its mRNA is detected in hemocytes, hearts, hepatopancreas, gills, stomach, and intestine from an unchallenged shrimp. The expression level of FcTRX was the highest in hepatopancreas, where it was down-regulated to the lowest level at 12 h white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) challenge. In the gills, it went up to the highest level at 6 h. Western blot showed that FcTRX protein in hepatopancreas challenged with WSSV was down-regulated from 2 h to 12 h and then restored to the level similar to that of unchallenged shrimp at 24 h. In the gills challenged with WSSV, the FcTRX protein was up-regulated from 6 h to 24 h. Our research indicated its possible role in the anti-WSSV innate immunity of shrimps.     

A macrophage migration inhibitory factor like oxidoreductase from pearl oyster Pinctada fucata involved in innate immune responses

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is an important cytokine and plays a crucial role as a pivotal regulator of innate immunity. In this study, a MIF cDNA was identified and characterized from the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata (designated as PoMIF). The full-length of PoMIF was 1544 bp and consisted of a 5'-untranslated region (UTR) of 45 bp, a 3'-UTR of 1139 bp with a polyadenylation signal (AATAAA) at 12 nucleotides upstream of the poly (A) tail. The open reading frame (ORF) of PoMIF was 360 bp which encoded a polypeptide of 120 amino acids with an estimated molecular mass of 13.3 kDa and a predicted pI of 6.1. SMART analysis showed that PoMIF contained the catalytic-sites P2 and K33 for tautomerase activity, a motif C??GSV?? for oxidoreductase activity and a MIF family signature D??PCGSVEVYSIGALG??. Homology analysis revealed that the PoMIF shared 40.3-65.5% similarity and 26.9-45.0% identity to other known MIF sequences. PoMIF mRNA was constitutively expressed in seven selected tissues of healthy pearl oysters, with the highest expression level in digestive gland. Eight hours after P. fucata was injected with Vibrio alginolyticus, the expression of PoMIF mRNA was significantly up-regulated in digestive gland, gills, hemocytes and intestine. The cDNA fragment encoding mature protein of PoMIF was subcloned to expression vector pRSET and transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). The recombinant PoMIF (rPoMIF) was expressed and purified under optimized conditions. Function analysis showed that rPoMIF had oxidoreductase activity and could utilize dithiothreitol (DTT) as reductant to reduce insulin.     

海参i型溶菌酶基因及其编码产物的结构特点

通过RT-PCR 和 RACE PCR技术,从海参(Stichopus japonicus)体壁中克隆得到一种溶菌酶基因(GenBank：EF036468).生物信息软件分析表明,其中全长cDNA为 713 bp,5′非编码区（UTR）246 bp,3′UTR 29 bp,开放阅读框438 bp,编码145个氨基酸,包括溶菌酶成熟肽124个氨基酸和信号肽21个氨基酸.对海参溶菌酶与多种无脊椎动物的c、g和i型溶菌酶进行分析比较,发现它与i型溶菌酶有较高的同源性,并具有i型溶菌酶高度保守的2个活性位点,即Glu34和Ser50.活性位点附近具有i型溶菌酶的一段特有的氨基酸保守序列MDVGSLSCG(P/Y)(Y/F)QIK,所以推断克隆的海参溶菌酶为i型.另外,通过搜索蛋白保守结构域数据库,发现海参溶菌酶与医用水蛭失稳酶相似性最高,并且这2个酶的三级结构模型也极其相似.因此推测,海参i型溶菌酶具有双功能特性,既能作用于细菌细胞壁的糖苷键使细胞裂解,又具有失稳酶的一些生化功能,能够水解纤维蛋白,这些特点在海参自溶过程中发挥重要的作用.     

Molecular cloning and expression profiles of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in mud crab Scylla paramamosain

The importance of the nitric oxide synthase (NOS) gene family is demonstrated by many studies in vertebrates and invertebrates in recent years. However, it keeps unknown of nitric oxide (NO) system and NOS gene family in mud crab Scylla paramamosain, an important cultured commercial crustacean in China and Pacific area. In this report, the cDNA of NOS containing full-length ORF was cloned from mud crab, S. paramamosain. It was of 4424 bp, including a 5′-terminal untranslated region (UTR) of 239 bp, a 3′-terminal UTR of 540 bp, which contained two ATTTA motifs, and an open reading frame (ORF) of 3645 bp encoding a polypeptide of 1214 amino acids. Structural analysis indicated that NOS contained a typical NO synthase domain at the N-terminal, next to a flavodoxin 1 domain, a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) binding domain, respectively, and a conservative nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) binding domain structure at the C-terminal. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis revealed S. paramamosain NOS (SpNOS) to be expressed in all tissues examined, with the highest expression in midintestine and the weakest level in heart and eyestalk. The expression profiles of SpNOS indicated that the NOS expression levels were significantly induced in midintestine, hepatopancrease and hemocytes after challenged with Vibrio Parahaemolyticus, the synthetic double-stranded RNA polyinosinic polycytidylic acid (poly I:C) and lipopolysaccharides (LPS). The NOS activity in hemocytes showed significant increase during at 24 h-48 h time period after immune challenges with V. Parahaemolyticus, poly I:C and LPS. Results here may suggest that the inducible NOS play an important role in mud crab’s defense against pathogenic infection.     

CLONING AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CARBONIC ANHYDRASE GENE FROM PORPHYRA YEZOENSIS1

Carbonic anhydrase (CA), an enzyme that catalyzes the interconversion of CO₂ and HCO₃^?, has a critical role in inorganic carbon acquisition in many kingdoms, including animals, plants, and bacteria. In this study, the full‐length cDNA of the CA gene from Porphyra yezoensis Ueda (denoted as PyCA) was cloned by using an expressed sequence tag (EST) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The nucleotide sequence of PyCA consists of 1,153 bp, including a 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of 177 bp, a 3′ UTR of 151 bp, and an open reading frame (ORF) of 825 bp that can be translated into a 274‐amino‐acid putative peptide with a molecular mass (M) of 29.8 kDa and putative isoelectric point (pI) of 8.51. The predicted polypeptide has significant homology to the β‐CA from bacteria and unicellular algae, such as Porphyridium purpureum. The mRNA in filamentous thalli, leafy thalli, and conchospores was examined, respectively, by real‐time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR), and the levels of PyCA are different at different stages of the life cycle. The lowest level of mRNA was observed in leafy thalli, and the level in filamentous thalli and in the conchospores was 4‐fold higher and 10‐fold higher, respectively.     

MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF THE LECTIN,BRYOHEALIN, INVOLVED IN PROTOPLAST REGENERATION OF THE MARINE ALGA BRYOPSIS PLUMOSA (CHLOROPHYTA)1

When a coenocytic cell of the green alga Bryopsis plumosa (Hudson) C. Agardh was cut open and the cell contents expelled, the cell organelles agglutinated rapidly in seawater to form protoplasts. This process was mediated by a lectin, Bryohealin. The full sequence of the cDNA encoding Bryohealin was obtained, which consisted of 1,101 base pairs (bp), with 24 bp of 5′ untranslated region (UTR) and 201 bp of 3′ UTR. It had an open reading frame (ORF) of 771 bp encoding 257 amino acid residues. A signal peptide consisted of 22 amino acids presented before the start codon of Bryohealin, indicating that this lectin was a vacuolar (storage) protein. The C‐terminal sequence of Bryohealin was composed of antibiotic domains, suggesting that this lectin could perform two functions: (i) aggregation of cell organelles in seawater and (ii) protection from bacterial contamination for successful protoplast regeneration. The BLAST search result showed that Bryohealin had little sequence homology with any known plant lectins, but rather resembled animal lectins with fucolectin domains. The expression of recombinant Bryohealin (rBryohealin) was obtained in the Escherichia coli system.