Yoshioka Yuki, Tanabe Toshiaki, Iguchi Akira
Department of Bioresources Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Okinawa College, Nago-City, Okinawa, Japan.
PeerJ. 2017 Nov 28;5:e4087. doi: 10.7717/peerj.4087. eCollection 2017.
Numerous enzymes that digest carbohydrates, such as cellulases and chitinases, are present in various organisms (e.g., termites, nematodes, and so on). Recently, the presence of cellulases and chitinases has been reported in marine organisms such as urchin and bivalves, and their several roles in marine ecosystems have been proposed. In this study, we reported the presence of genes predicted to encode proteins similar to cellulases and chitinases in the genome of the coral , their gene expression patterns at various life stages, and cellulose- and chitin-degrading enzyme activities in several coral species ( and ). Our gene expression analysis demonstrated the expressions of these cellulase- and chitinase-like genes during various life stages, including unfertilized eggs, fertilized eggs, zygotes, planula larvae, primary polyps and adults of Agar plate assays confirmed cellulase and chitinase activities in the tissues extracted from adult branches of several coral species. These results suggested that corals are able to utilize cellulases and chitinases in their life histories.
许多消化碳水化合物的酶，如纤维素酶和几丁质酶，存在于各种生物体中（如白蚁、线虫等）。最近，在海胆和双壳贝类等海洋生物中已报道了纤维素酶和几丁质酶的存在，并提出了它们在海洋生态系统中的多种作用。在本研究中，我们报道了在珊瑚基因组中存在预测编码类似于纤维素酶和几丁质酶的蛋白质的基因，它们在不同生命阶段的基因表达模式，以及几种珊瑚物种（和）中纤维素和几丁质降解酶的活性。我们的基因表达分析表明，这些类纤维素酶和类几丁质酶基因在包括未受精卵、受精卵、合子、浮浪幼虫、初级水螅体和成年个体在内的不同生命阶段均有表达。琼脂平板试验证实了从几种珊瑚物种成年分支提取的组织中存在纤维素酶和几丁质酶活性。这些结果表明，珊瑚在其生活史中能够利用纤维素酶和几丁质酶。
