Jiang Kunyin, Jiang Liwen, Nie Hongtao, Huo Zhongming, Yan Xiwu
Engineering and Technology Research Center of Shellfish Breeding in Liaoning Province, School of Fisheries and Life Science, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian, China.
PeerJ. 2020 Feb 17;8:e8641. doi: 10.7717/peerj.8641. eCollection 2020.
The Manila clam () is an economically important molluscan bivalve with variation in pigmentation frequently observed in the shell. In nature, tyrosinase is widely distributed in invertebrates and vertebrates, and plays a crucial role in a variety of physiological activities. In this study, a tyrosinase gene ( 9) was cloned and the expression level of genes ( 6, 9, 10, and 11) were investigated in different shell colors. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that genes were significantly expressed in the mantle, a shell formation and pigmentation-related tissue. Moreover, the expression pattern of the genes in the mantle of different shell-color strains was different, suggesting that tyrosinases might be involved in different shell-color formation. In addition, the expression profile of 6, 9, 10, and 11 genes were detected at different early developmental stages and the expression level varied with embryonic and larval growth. RNA interference (RNAi) results showed that the expression level of 9 in the RNAi group was significantly down-regulated compared to control and negative control groups, indicating that 9 might participate in shell-color formation. Our results indicated that genes were likely to play vital roles in the formation of shell and shell-color in .
菲律宾蛤仔（）是一种具有重要经济价值的双壳贝类软体动物，其贝壳色素沉着存在差异。在自然界中，酪氨酸酶广泛分布于无脊椎动物和脊椎动物体内，在多种生理活动中发挥关键作用。在本研究中，克隆了一个酪氨酸酶基因（9），并研究了不同贝壳颜色中基因（6、9、10和11）的表达水平。定量实时PCR结果表明，这些基因在与贝壳形成和色素沉着相关的组织——外套膜中显著表达。此外，不同贝壳颜色品系的外套膜中这些基因的表达模式不同，这表明酪氨酸酶可能参与了不同贝壳颜色的形成。此外，在不同的早期发育阶段检测了6、9、10和11基因的表达谱，其表达水平随胚胎和幼虫的生长而变化。RNA干扰（RNAi）结果显示，与对照组和阴性对照组相比，RNAi组中9的表达水平显著下调，表明9可能参与贝壳颜色的形成。我们的结果表明，这些基因可能在菲律宾蛤仔贝壳和贝壳颜色的形成中发挥重要作用。
