A high-throughput analysis of the protein coding genes that direct shell formation in the mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis.
Final Report Abstract
In this project we have identified and characterized more than 40 gene products directly involved in shell formation in the freshwater pond snail "Lymnaea stagnalis". These genes were initially identified as candidates via a proteomic approach, and were then validated by spatial expression analysis (whole mount "in situ" hybridisation, WMISH). In addition, we have a growing list of 11 shell forming genes that have been identified by purely bioinformatic approaches (and subsequently validated by WMISH). This collection of validated genes represents the largest collection of shell forming genes form any mollusc which constructs a shell from crossed lamaella, the most commonly employed shellbuilding crystal structure within the Mollusca. During the course of this proposal we have also generated (or collaborated in the generation of) significant transcriptomic and genomic resources for the "L. stagnalis", and we expect the fruits of those efforts to become publicly available to the wider scientific community in the foreseeable future. Another valuable product of this work (that consumed an unforeseen amount of time and other resources) is a protocol that allows for the highly sensitive, repeatable and high resolution visualization of gene expression in a semi-high throughput manner in "L. Stagnalis". The liquid handling robot that was funded by this project and performs these WMISH experiments was a major key to this success, and is already playing a significant role in ongoing projects in the group. Manuscripts describing the shell-forming genes identified in this work are currently in the final stages of preparation. Many of these genes have no clear sequence similarity to previously studied genes in any other organisms, thus while their association with the molluscan shell is clear, their specific functions remain elusive. The database of shellforming genes we have established for "L. stagnalis" will both serve as a significant resource for the biomineralization community, and as a platform for our further investigations which aim to functionally characterize such gene products.
Publications
- (November, 2012). An ancient process in a modern mollusc. Development of the shell field in the mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis. IX meeting of the Spanish Developmental Biology Society, Granada, Spain
Hohagen, J., Jackson, D.J.
- (August, 2013). Building a molluscan shell: mid-throughput identification and characterisation of biomineralisation genes at the level of the transcriptome from the freshwater pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis. 12th International Symposium on Biomineralization, Freiberg, Germany
Herlitze, I., Marie, B., Marin, F, Jackson, D.J.
- (April, 2014). Biomineralisation genes from thefreshwater pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis L. ; mid-throughput identification and characterisation at the level of the transcriptome.“Size and Shape: Integration of morphometrics, mathematical modelling, developmental and evolutionary biology” conference, Göttingen, Germany
Herlitze, I., Marie, B., Marin, F., Jackson, D.J.
