title: Isolation and characterization of Mytilus edulis metallothionein genes.
abstract: Metallothioneins (MTs) are crucial proteins in all organisms for the regulation of essential metals and the detoxification of heavy metals. Many studies have estimated MT levels in mussel tissues to detect marine metal pollution. In this study, we investigated the MT gene structures of the forms present in Mytilus edulis (blue mussel). One MT-10 (2413 bp) gene and one MT-20 (1906 bp) gene were obtained. These MT genes contain three exons and two long introns. The splicing signals for MT-10 and MT-20 were GTA(T/A)GT-(C/T)AG. The structural organization (length of intron, splicing signals, AT content) of MT-10 and MT-20 is compared with other MT genes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie et Génétique évolutive, Université du Maine, France. vincent.leignel@univ-lemans.fr
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Leignel
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Laulier
mesh_terms: D020856:AT Rich Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005091:Exons; D005796:Genes; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D008668:Metallothionein / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D049880:Mytilus edulis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D008668:Metallothionein