Oyster Shell Proteins Originate from Multiple Organs and Their Probable Transport Pathway to the Shell Formation Front

PLoS One. 2013 Jun 19;8(6):e66522. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0066522. Print 2013.

Abstract

Mollusk shell is one kind of potential biomaterial, but its vague mineralization mechanism hinders its further application. Mollusk shell matrix proteins are important functional components that are embedded in the shell, which play important roles in shell formation. The proteome of the oyster shell had been determined based on the oyster genome sequence by our group and gives the chance for further deep study in this area. The classical model of shell formation posits that the shell proteins are mantle-secreted. But, in this study, we further analyzed the shell proteome data in combination with organ transcriptome data and we found that the shell proteins may be produced by multiple organs though the mantle is still the most important organ for shell formation. To identify the transport pathways of these shell proteins not in classical model of shell formation, we conducted a shell damage experiment and we determined the shell-related gene set to identify the possible transport pathways from multiple organs to the shell formation front. We also found that there may exist a remodeling mechanism in the process of shell formation. Based on these results along with some published results, we proposed a new immature model, which will help us think about the mechanism of shell formation in a different way.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biological Transport
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Nacre / metabolism*
  • Pinctada / genetics
  • Pinctada / physiology*
  • Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

  • Nacre
  • Proteins

Grants and funding

This research was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, No. 2010CB126401), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 40730845), National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 program, 2012AA10A405), Mollusc Research and Development Center, CARS (CARS-48 ), Taishan Scholars Climbing Program of Shandong and Oversea Taishan Scholar Program of Shandong. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.