Characterisation of the mantle transcriptome and biomineralisation genes in the blunt-gaper clam, Mya truncata

Sleight, Victoria A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0550-8500; Thorne, Michael A.S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7759-612X; Peck, Lloyd S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3479-6791; Arivalagan, Jaison; Berland, Sophie; Marie, Arul; Clark, Melody S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3442-3824. 2016 Characterisation of the mantle transcriptome and biomineralisation genes in the blunt-gaper clam, Mya truncata. Marine Genomics, 27. 47-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margen.2016.01.003

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.margen.2016.01.003

Abstract/Summary

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.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margen.2016.01.003
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > BAS Programmes 2015 > Biodiversity, Evolution and Adaptation
ISSN:	18747787
Additional Keywords:	gene expression, calcification, phylogenetics, bioinformatics, shell
Date made live:	26 Jan 2016 14:06 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/512717

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margen.2016.01.003

Programmes:

BAS Programmes > BAS Programmes 2015 > Biodiversity, Evolution and Adaptation

ISSN:

18747787

Additional Keywords:

gene expression, calcification, phylogenetics, bioinformatics, shell

Date made live:

26 Jan 2016 14:06 +0 (UTC)