Dataset Information

Molecular characterization of TGF-? type I receptor gene (Tgfbr1) in Chlamys farreri, and the association of allelic variants with growth traits.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Scallops are an economically important aquaculture species in Asian countries, and growth-rate improvement is one of the main focuses of scallop breeding. Investigating the genetic regulation of scallop growth could benefit scallop breeding, as such research is currently limited. The transforming growth factor beta (TGF-?) signaling through type I and type II receptors, plays critical roles in regulating cell proliferation and growth, and is thus a plausible candidate growth regulator in scallops.

Results

We cloned and characterized the TGF-? type I receptor (Tgfbr1) gene from Zhikong scallops (Chlamys farreri). The deduced amino acid sequence contains characteristic residues and exhibits the conserved structure of Tgfbr1 proteins. A high expression level of scallop Tgfbr1 was detected during early embryonic stages, whereas Tgfbr1 expression was enriched in the gonad and striated muscle in adults. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, c. 1815C>T) in the 3' UTR was identified. Scallops with genotype TT had higher growth traits values than those with genotype CC or CT in a full-sib family, and significant differences were found between genotypes CC and TT for shell length, shell height, and striated muscle weight. An expression analysis detected significantly more Tgfbr1 transcripts in the striated muscle of scallops with genotype CC compared to those with genotype TT or CT. Further evaluation in a population also revealed higher striated muscle weight in scallops with genotype TT than those with the other two genotypes. The inverse correlation between striated muscle mass and Tgfbr1 expression is consistent with TGF-? signaling having a negative effect on cell growth.

Conclusion

The scallop Tgfbr1 gene was cloned and characterized, and an SNP potentially associated with both scallop growth and Tgfbr1 expression was identified. Our results suggest the negative regulation of Tgfbr1 in scallop growth and provide a candidate marker for Zhikong scallop breeding.

SUBMITTER: Guo H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3510168 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Molecular characterization of TGF-β type I receptor gene (Tgfbr1) in Chlamys farreri, and the association of allelic variants with growth traits.

Guo Huihui H Bao Zhenmin Z Li Jiqin J Lian Shanshan S Wang Shi S He Yan Y Fu Xiaoteng X Zhang Lingling L Hu Xiaoli X

PloS one 20121129 11

<h4>Background</h4>Scallops are an economically important aquaculture species in Asian countries, and growth-rate improvement is one of the main focuses of scallop breeding. Investigating the genetic regulation of scallop growth could benefit scallop breeding, as such research is currently limited. The transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) signaling through type I and type II receptors, plays critical roles in regulating cell proliferation and growth, and is thus a plausible candidate growth r ...[more]

PMID: 23209843

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Dopa decarboxylase (DDC) is a pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the decarboxylation of L-Dopa to dopamine, and involved in complex neuroendocrine-immune regulatory network. The function for DDC in the immunomodulation remains unclear in invertebrate. METHODOLOGY: The full-length cDNA encoding DDC (designated CfDDC) was cloned from mollusc scallop Chlamys farreri. It contained an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 560 amino acids. The CfDDC mRNA transcripts could be detected in all the tested tissues, including the immune tissues haemocytes and hepatopancreas. After scallops were treated with LPS stimulation, the mRNA expression level of CfDDC in haemocytes increased significantly (5.5-fold, P<0.05) at 3 h and reached the peak at 12 h (9.8-fold, P<0.05), and then recovered to the baseline level. The recombinant protein of CfDDC (rCfDDC) was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3)-Transetta, and 1 mg rCfDDC could catalyze the production of 1.651±0.22 ng dopamine within 1 h in vitro. When the haemocytes were incubated with rCfDDC-coated agarose beads, the haemocyte encapsulation to the beads was increased significantly from 70% at 6 h to 93% at 24 h in vitro in comparison with that in the control (23% at 6 h to 25% at 24 h), and the increased haemocyte encapsulation was repressed by the addition of rCfDDC antibody (which is acquired via immunization 6-week old rats with rCfDDC). After the injection of DDC inhibitor methyldopa, the ROS level in haemocytes of scallops was decreased significantly to 0.41-fold (P<0.05) of blank group at 12 h and 0.47-fold (P<0.05) at 24 h, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These results collectively suggested that CfDDC, as a homologue of DDC in scallop, modulated the immune responses such as haemocytes encapsulation as well as the ROS level through its catalytic activity, functioning as an indispensable immunomodulating enzyme in the neuroendocrine-immune regulatory network of mollusc.