title: Identification and characterization of pufflectin from the grass pufferfish Takifugu niphobles and comparison of its expression with that of Takifugu rubripes.
abstract: Pufflectin found in Takifugu rubripes (Tr pufflectin) is the first animal lectin reported to show sequence similarity to monocotyledonous plant lectins. In the present study, we identified and characterized an orthologous lectin from Takifugu niphobles (Tn pufflectin), a species closely related to T. rubripes. Tn pufflectin exhibits 86% identity to Tr pufflectin with two conserved mannose-binding domains. Tn pufflectin was mainly expressed in the skin, gills, brain, and muscles; however, it was expressed at a lower level in the other examined tissues. Recombinant Tn pufflectin, expressed by Escherichia coli, exhibited binding activity specific for d-mannose. The expression of pufflectin in the gills was much lower in T. niphobles than in T. rubripes; notably, the former and latter are resistant and susceptible, respectively, to the monogenean parasite Heterobothrium okamotoi, which parasitizes gills. This suggests that pufflectin might be utilized by the parasite for host recognition.
authors.affiliation: Fisheries Laboratory, The University of Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 431-0214, Japan. Electronic address: atasumi@mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tasumi
authors.affiliation: School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-0373, Japan.
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Fisheries Laboratory, The University of Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 431-0214, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryohei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Matsunaga
authors.affiliation: School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-0373, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuma
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fukushi
authors.affiliation: Fisheries Laboratory, The University of Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 431-0214, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuzuru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-0373, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Fisheries Laboratory, The University of Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, 431-0214, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiyhoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.affiliation: School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 252-0373, Japan. Electronic address: tsutsui@kitasato-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsutsui
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000469:parasitology*; D005880:Gills / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000469:parasitology*; D037241:Mannose-Binding Lectins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D037121:Plant Lectins / Q000235:genetics; D010986:Platyhelminths / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism; D023741:Takifugu / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D037241:Mannose-Binding Lectins; D037121:Plant Lectins
keywords: Gills; Heterobothrium okamotoi; Lily-type lectin; Monocotyledonous plant lectin; Takifugu niphobles; Takifugu rubripes