Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Università del Piemonte Orientale Vercelli Novara Alessandria, Alessandria, Italy.
PLoS One. 2011 May 5;6(5):e18904. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018904.
Seasonal environmental changes may affect the physiology of Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lam.), an intertidal filter-feeder bivalve occurring commonly in Mediterranean and Atlantic coastal areas. We investigated seasonal variations in relative transcript abundance of the digestive gland and the mantle (gonads) of males and females. To identify gene expression trends - in terms of relative mRNA abundance- we used a medium-density cDNA microarray (1.7 K probes) in dual-color competitive hybridization analyses. Hierarchical clustering of digestive gland microarray data showed two main branches, distinguishing profiles associated with the "hot" months (May-August) from the other months. Genes involved in chitin metabolism, associated with mussel nutrition and digestion showed higher mRNA levels during summer. Moreover, we found different gene transcriptomic patterns in the digestive glands of males when compared to females, during the four stages of mussel gonadal development. Microarray data from gonadal transcripts also displayed clear patterns during the different developmental phases respect to the resting period (stage I) with peak relative mRNA abundance at the ripe phase (stage III) for both sexes. These data showed a clear temporal pattern in transcriptomic profiles of mussels sampled over an annual cycle. Physiological response to thermal variation, food availability, and reproductive status across months may contribute to variation in relative mRNA abundance.
季节环境变化可能会影响生活在地中海和大西洋沿海地区的贻贝（Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lam.)）的生理学特性。贻贝是一种滤食性双壳贝类。我们研究了雄性和雌性消化腺和套膜（性腺）相对转录丰度的季节性变化。为了确定基因表达的趋势（以相对 mRNA 丰度为单位），我们在双色竞争杂交分析中使用了中等密度 cDNA 微阵列（1.7 K 个探针）。消化腺微阵列数据的层次聚类显示了两个主要分支，将与“热”月（5-8 月）相关的图谱与其他月份区分开来。与贻贝营养和消化有关的壳质代谢相关的基因在夏季表现出更高的 mRNA 水平。此外，我们发现，在贻贝性腺发育的四个阶段中，雄性和雌性消化腺的基因转录组模式不同。性腺转录物的微阵列数据在不同的发育阶段相对于静止期（I 期）也表现出明显的模式，两性的相对 mRNA 丰度峰值出现在成熟期（III 期）。这些数据显示，贻贝在一年的时间内取样的转录组图谱存在明显的时间模式。对热变化、食物供应和繁殖状况的生理反应可能导致相对 mRNA 丰度的变化。
