title: Characterisation of the mantle transcriptome and biomineralisation genes in the blunt-gaper clam, Mya truncata.
abstract: Members of the Myidae family are ecologically and economically important, but there is currently very little molecular data on these species. The present study sequenced and assembled the mantle transcriptome of Mya truncata from the North West coast of Scotland and identified candidate biomineralisation genes. RNA-Seq reads were assembled to create 20,106 contigs in a de novo transciptome, 18.81% of which were assigned putative functions using BLAST sequence similarity searching (cuttoff E-value 1E-10). The most highly expressed genes were compared to the Antarctic clam (Laternula elliptica) and showed that many of the dominant biological functions (muscle contraction, energy production, biomineralisation) in the mantle were conserved. There were however, differences in the constitutive expression of heat shock proteins, which were possibly due to the M. truncata sampling location being at a relatively low latitude, and hence relatively warm, in terms of the global distribution of the species. Phylogenetic analyses of the Tyrosinase proteins from M. truncata showed a gene expansion which was absent in L. elliptica. The tissue distribution expression patterns of putative biomineralisation genes were investigated using quantitative PCR, all genes showed a mantle specific expression pattern supporting their hypothesised role in shell secretion. The present study provides some preliminary insights into how clams from different environments - temperate versus polar - build their shells. In addition, the transcriptome data provides a valuable resource for future comparative studies investigating biomineralisation.
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK. Electronic address: viceig15@bas.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Victoria A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Sleight
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Michael A S
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Thorne
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Lloyd S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Peck
authors.affiliation: UMR 7245 CNRS/MNHN Molécules de Communications et Adaptations des Micro-organismes, Sorbonne Universités, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 75005, France; UMR 7208 CNRS/MNHN/UPMC/IRD Biologie des Organismes Aquatiques et Ecosystèmes, Sorbonne Universités, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 75005, France.
authors.forename: Jaison
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arivalagan
authors.affiliation: UMR 7245 CNRS/MNHN Molécules de Communications et Adaptations des Micro-organismes, Sorbonne Universités, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 75005, France.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berland
authors.affiliation: UMR 7208 CNRS/MNHN/UPMC/IRD Biologie des Organismes Aquatiques et Ecosystèmes, Sorbonne Universités, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 75005, France.
authors.forename: Arul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marie
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Melody S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Clark
mesh_terms: D060105:Animal Shells / Q000254:growth & development*; D000818:Animals; D002113:Calcification, Physiologic; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D049892:Mya / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D059467:Transcriptome
keywords: Bioinformatics; Calcification; Gene expression; Phylogenetics; Shell