Tsujita Natsumi, Kuwahara Hiroyuki, Koyama Hiroki, Yanaka Noriyuki, Arakawa Kenji, Kuniyoshi Hisato
a Graduate School of Biosphere Science , Hiroshima University , Higashi-Hiroshima , Japan.
b Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter , Hiroshima University , Higashi-Hiroshima , Japan.
Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2017 May;81(5):938-950. doi: 10.1080/09168451.2017.1285686. Epub 2017 Feb 13.
The life cycle of the moon jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, alternates between a benthic asexual polyp stage and a planktonic sexual medusa (jellyfish) stage. Transition from polyp to medusa is called strobilation. To investigate the molecular mechanisms of strobilation, we screened for genes that are upregulated during strobilation using the differential display method and we identified aspartylglucosaminidase (AGA), which encodes a lysosomal hydrolase. Similar to AGAs from other species, Aurelia AGA possessed an N-terminal signal peptide and potential N-glycosylation sites. The genomic region of Aurelia AGA was approximately 9.8 kb in length and contained 12 exons and 11 introns. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that AGA expression increased during strobilation, and was then decreased in medusae. To inhibit AGA function, we administered the lysosomal acidification inhibitors, chloroquine or bafilomycin A1, to animals during strobilation. Both inhibitors disturbed medusa morphogenesis at the oral end, suggesting involvement of lysosomal hydrolases in strobilation.
海月水母（Aurelia aurita）的生命周期在底栖无性水螅体阶段和浮游有性水母阶段之间交替。从水螅体到水母的转变称为横裂生殖。为了研究横裂生殖的分子机制，我们使用差异显示方法筛选了在横裂生殖过程中上调的基因，并鉴定出天冬氨酰葡糖胺酶（AGA），它编码一种溶酶体水解酶。与其他物种的AGA相似，海月水母AGA具有一个N端信号肽和潜在的N糖基化位点。海月水母AGA的基因组区域长度约为9.8 kb，包含12个外显子和11个内含子。定量逆转录聚合酶链反应分析表明，AGA表达在横裂生殖期间增加，然后在水母中下降。为了抑制AGA功能，我们在横裂生殖期间给动物施用溶酶体酸化抑制剂氯喹或巴弗洛霉素A1。两种抑制剂都扰乱了水母口端的形态发生，表明溶酶体水解酶参与了横裂生殖。
