Biol. Bull. 207: 167. (October 2004)
© 2004 Marine Biological Laboratory
Characterization of the Myostatin-Like Gene in Argopecten irradians
Adam Bissonnette1 and
Steven Roberts2
1 Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire
2 Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
The bay scallop, Argopecten irradians, is a marine bivalve with significant commercial and scientific importance, primarily as a result of the species’ large adductor muscle. Recently, a myostatin-like transcript (sMSTN) has been isolated from this species. Myostatin is a member of the transforming growth factor ß superfamily and has been shown to be an important negative regulator of muscle growth in several vertebrate species. To date, the function of the myostatin-like gene in invertebrates is undetermined. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to further understand the role of this gene by 1) determining genomic structure of sMSTN and 2) quantifying the effects of treating bay scallops with a myostatin inhibitor (Myo-Blast: Cytodyne). To determine the genomic structure, a nested PCR-based genome-walking technique was performed. Briefly, oligonucleotide primers were designed corresponding to the 5'- and 3'-ends of sMSTN; and together with arbitrary primers (DW-ACP1, 2, 3, and 4 - SeeGene), two major PCR products were amplified (>1500 bp). The second approach was carried out on two groups of animals: experimentals and controls (n = 15, each). For three days, during two 2-hour treatment sessions per day, the two groups of animals were placed in containers containing non-flowing, but aerated, ambient seawater. Myo-Blast powder suspended in 250 ml of seawater was added to the experimental containers, while the controls received seawater only. After the three days of treatment, a differential display technique was used to identify the genes that had been regulated in the treated scallops, but not in the controls. Initial results indicate that a cyclin-T homologue in bay scallops is down-regulated in treated animals, suggesting possible differences in cell cycle activity between treated and control bay scallops. These results suggest that the MSTN gene has been conserved through evolution and could function via a molecular mechanism similar to that observed in mammals.
The work described here was supported by USDA grant 2003-35206-12834 (to SBR).
