Project description:Three adult individuals of the Octopus vulgaris were collected from the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy). For each animal, total RNA was isolated from the supra- (SEM), sub- (SUB) esophageal masses, optic lobes (OL) and the arms (ARM). The RNA-sequencing has been performed using Illumina technology.
Project description:The saliva of the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) has been the subject of biochemical study for over a century. A combination of bioassays, behavioural studies and molecular analysis on O. vulgaris and related species suggests that it should contain a mixture of highly potent neurotoxins and degradative proteins. However, a lack of genomic and transcriptomic data has meant that the amino acid sequences of these proteins remain almost entirely unknown. To address this, we assembled the salivary gland transcriptome of O. vulgaris and combined it with high resolution mass spectrometry data from the posterior and anterior salivary glands of two adults, the posterior salivary glands of six paralarvae and the saliva from a single adult. We identified a total of 2810 protein groups from across this range of salivary tissues and age classes, including 84 with homology to known venom protein families. Additionally, we found 21 short secreted cysteine rich protein groups of which 12 were specific to cephalopods. By combining protein expression data with phylogenetic analysis we demonstrate that serine proteases expanded dramatically within the cephalopod lineage and that cephalopod specific proteins are strongly associated with the salivary apparatus.
