title: Small metallothionein MT-10 genes in coastal and hydrothermal mussels.
abstract: Metallothioneins (MTs) are important proteins in the intracellular regulation of metals. In the Mytilidae family, which includes many economically important species, 2 major forms of MTs have been reported: MT-10 (10 kDa) and MT-20 (20 kDa). Many different MT-10 proteins have been isolated from the common species Mytilus edulis, which suggests that distinct MT-10 genes may occur in a single specimen. Some MT genes, involving 3 exons and 2 large introns, have been isolated in Mytilidae. Our aim was to determine whether intron-free forms of the MT-10 genes can exist, which could allow rapid transcription in response to exposure to metals. Our study focused on 2 species living under very different environmental conditions: Mytilus edulis (a coastal mussel) and Bathymodiolus thermophilus (a hydrothermal mussel). We report here the first description of small, intron-free MT-10 genes, possessing a correct open reading frame in these 2 species.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologic et Génétique Evolutive, Université du Maine, 72085, Le Mans, France. vincent.leignel@univ-lemans.fr
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Leignel
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hardivillier
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laulier
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D017931:DNA Primers; D004777:Environment; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005602:France; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D049879:Mytilidae / Q000235:genetics*; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D008668:Metallothionein