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The Molecular Evolution of the Pif Family Proteins in Various Species of Mollusks

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Abstract

Various novel proteins have been identified from many kinds of mollusk shells. Although such matrix proteins are believed to play important roles in the calcium carbonate crystal formation of shells, no common proteins that interact with calcium carbonate or that are involved in the molecular mechanisms behind shell formation have been identified. Pif consists of two proteins, Pif 80 and Pif 97, which are encoded by a single mRNA. Pif 80 was identified as a key acidic protein that regulates the formation of the nacreous layer in Pinctada fucata, while Pif 97 has von Willebrand factor type A (VWA) and chitin-binding domains. In this study, we identified Pif homologues from Pinctada margaritifera, Pinctada maxima, Pteria penguin, Mytilus galloprovincialis, and in the genome database of Lottia gigantea in order to compare their primary protein sequences. The VWA and chitin-binding domains are conserved in all Pif 97 homologues, whereas the amino acid sequences of the Pif 80 regions differ markedly among the species. Sequence alignment revealed the presence of a novel significantly conserved sequence between the chitin-binding domain and the C-terminus of Pif 97. Further examination of the Pif 80 regions suggested that they share a sequence that is similar to the laminin G domain. These results indicate that all Pif molecules in bivalves and gastropods may be derived from a common ancestral gene. These comparisons may shed light on the correlation between molecular evolution and morphology in mollusk shell microstructure.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Tasaki Shinju Co. Ltd in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, for providing us with the shells and live oysters of P. margaritifera, P. maxima, and P. penguin. We are grateful to Dr. James Weaver, Dr. Steve Weiner, and Dr. Lia Addadi for providing the shells of L. gigantea. This work was supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (17GS0311, 22248037, and 22228006) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). M.S. was supported by a Research Fellowship of JSPS for young scientists.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Michio Suzuki & Toshihiro Kogure

  2. Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Michio Suzuki, Ai Iwashima, Mariko Kimura & Hiromichi Nagasawa

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  1. Michio Suzuki
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  2. Ai Iwashima
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  3. Mariko Kimura
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  4. Toshihiro Kogure
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  5. Hiromichi Nagasawa
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Correspondence to Hiromichi Nagasawa.

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Fig. 1a

Sequence strategy for determination of the complete cDNA sequence for each Pif homologues. (a) pmPif. (b) pmxPif. (c) ppPif. The sequence of each primer number is shown in supplementary Table 1. (JPEG 39 kb)

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Fig. 1b

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Fig. 1c

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Fig. 2a

The complete cDNA and deduced amino acid sequence of pmPif. (b) The complete cDNA and deduced amino acid sequence of pmxPif. (c) The complete cDNA and deduced amino acid sequence of ppPif. Orange box is a signal peptide. Blue box indicates the VWA domain. Yellow box is the Peritrophin A-type chitin-binding domain. Purple box is BXBB (B means a basic amino acid residue) that is a Kex2-like protease cleavage site. Green box is the sequence that has the similarity of aragonite-binding protein (Pif 80). The underlines indicate the polyadenylation signal sequences. (JPEG 241 kb)

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Fig. 2b

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Fig. 2c

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Table 1

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Suzuki, M., Iwashima, A., Kimura, M. et al. The Molecular Evolution of the Pif Family Proteins in Various Species of Mollusks. Mar Biotechnol 15, 145–158 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-012-9471-2

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