Analysis of differentially expressed genes in response to bacterial stimulation in hemocytes of the carpet-shell clam Ruditapes decussatus: identification of new antimicrobial peptides.
Suppression subtractive hybridization was used to identify differentially expressed genes in hemocytes from carpet-shell clam Ruditapes decussatus stimulated with a mixture of dead bacterial strains. Putative function could be assigned to 100 of the 253 sequenced cDNAs. Based on sequence homologies, 3.16% of the total identified genes were possibly related to immune functions. Clam myticin isoforms 1, 2 and 3, and clam mytilin, with similarity with myticins and mytilins previously reported on Mytilus galloprovincialis were identified and characterized for the first time in clams. The analysis of their expression levels by quantitative PCR showed that they were induced by bacterial challenge. The results obtained in this work could be the first step leading to the understanding of molecular mechanisms by which these economically important marine bivalves respond to pathogens.
Gestal
Camino
C
Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Eduardo Cabello 6, Vigo, Spain.
Costa
Marímar
M
Figueras
Antonio
A
Novoa
Beatriz
B
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000235:genetics*; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D015870:Gene Expression; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny
D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D001798:Blood Proteins; C400201:myticin; C408470:mytilin