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Silicatein expression in the hexactinellid Crateromorpha meyeri: the lead marker gene restricted to siliceous sponges

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Abstract

The siliceous spicules of sponges (Porifera) are synthesized by the enzyme silicatein. This protein and its gene have been identified so far in the Demospongiae, e.g., Tethya aurantium and Suberites domuncula. In the Hexactinellida, the second class of siliceous sponges, the mechanism of synthesis of the largest bio-silica structures on Earth remains obscure. Here, we describe the morphology of the spicules (diactines and stauractines) of the hexactinellid Crateromorpha meyeri. These spicules are composed of silica lamellae concentrically arranged around a central axial canal and contain proteinaceous sheaths (within the siliceous mantel) and proteinaceous axial filaments (within the axial canal). The major protein in the spicules is a 24-kDa protein that strongly reacts with anti-silicatein antibodies in Western blots. Its cDNA has been successfully cloned; the deduced hexactinellid silicatein comprises, in addition to the characteristic catalytic triad amino acids Ser-His-Asn and the “conventional” serine cluster, a “hexactinellid C. meyeri-specific” Ser cluster. We show that anti-silicatein antibodies react specifically with the proteinaceous matrix of the C. meyeri spicules. The characterization of silicatein at the genetic level should contribute to an understanding of the molecular/biochemical mechanism of spiculogenesis in Hexactinellida. These data also indicate that silicatein is an autapomorphic molecule common to both classes of siliceous sponges.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mr. G. Glasser (Research group “Surface Chemistry”, Prof. H.J. Butt and Dr. I. Lieberwirth; Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz) for excellent assistance with the electron-microscopic analysis. The investigated material and photographs of the animals were kindly supplied by Dr. Dorthe Janussen (Department of Marine Evertebrates I, Research Institute and Natural Museum Senckenberg, Frankfurt/Main). Thanks are also due to Mr. C. Eckert (Institut für Physiologische Chemie, University of Mainz) for help during the collection of the material.

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  1. Institut für Physiologische Chemie, Abteilung Angewandte Molekularbiologie, Universität Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, 55099, Mainz, Germany

    Werner E. G. Müller, Klaus Kropf, Alexandra Boreiko, Ute Schloßmacher, David Brandt, Heinz C. Schröder & Matthias Wiens

  2. National Research Center for Geoanalysis, 26 Baiwanzhuang Dajie, CHN-100037, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaohong Wang

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  1. Werner E. G. Müller
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Correspondence to Werner E. G. Müller.

Additional information

Sequences (cDNAs) from Crateromorpha meyeri have been deposited (EMBL/GenBank) as follows: for silicatein (SILCA_CRAME; accession no. AM920776), for cathepsin-like protein 1 (catl1_CRAME; AM904719), for cathepsin-like protein 2 (catl2_CRAME; AM904720), for cathepsin-like protein 3 (catl3_CRAME; AM904721), and for cathepsin-like protein 4 (catl4_CRAME; AM904722).

This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft/Wi 2116/2-2), the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Germany (project: Center of Excellence BIOTECmarin), the Basic Science Research Program in China (no. 200607CSJ05), the China International Science and Technology Cooperation Program (no. 20071395), and the International Human Frontier Science Program.

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Müller, W.E.G., Wang, X., Kropf, K. et al. Silicatein expression in the hexactinellid Crateromorpha meyeri: the lead marker gene restricted to siliceous sponges. Cell Tissue Res 333, 339–351 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-008-0624-6

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