A Rhodopsin-Like Gene May Be Associated With the Light-Sensitivity of Adult Pacific Oyster Crassostrea gigas

Frontiers in Physiology

Wen Guo¹  Zhongqiang Cai²  Changlu Wu³  Lei Wei³  Jiao Wang³  Jun Chen³  Xiaotong Wang³  Wenchao Yu³  Qiuyun Jiang³  Cheng He³ 

[1] Center for Mollusc Study and Development, Marine Biology Institute of Shandong Province, Qingdao, China;Changdao Enhancement and Experiment Station, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Changdao, China;School of Agriculture, Ludong University, Yantai, China;

关键词: adult oyster;    light-sensitivity;    RNAi;    mantle;    rhodopsin-like superfamily member gene;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fphys.2018.00221

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Light-sensitivity is important for mollusc survival, as it plays a vital role in reproduction and predator avoidance. Light-sensitivity has been demonstrated in the adult Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, but the genes associated with light-sensitivity remain unclear. In the present study, we designed experiments to identify the genes associated with light-sensitivity in adult oysters. First, we assessed the Pacific oyster genome and identified 368 genes annotated with the terms associated with light-sensitivity. Second, the function of the four rhodopsin-like superfamily member genes was tested by using RNAi. The results showed that the highest level of mRNA expression of the vision-related genes was in the mantle; however, this finding is not true for all oyster genes. Interestingly, we also found four rhodopsin-like superfamily member genes expressed at an very high level in the mantle tissue. In the RNAi experiment, when one of rhodopsin-like superfamily member genes (CGI_1001253) was inhibited, the light-sensitivity capacity of the injected oysters was significantly reduced, suggesting that CGI_10012534 may be associated with light-sensitivity in the adult Pacific oyster.

【 授权许可】

Unknown