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American Oyster, Crassostrea virginica, Expresses a Potent Antibacterial Histone H2B Protein

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Abstract

An antibacterial protein was purified from acidified gill extract of a bivalve mollusk, the American oyster (Crassostrea virginica). Protein isolation was best accomplished by briefly boiling the tissues in a weak acetic acid solution. Adding protease inhibitors while boiling did not have a major effect on activity recovery. In contrast, use of only protease inhibitors (without boiling) resulted in virtually no recovery of this activity. The amino acid sequence of this antibacterial protein was identified as a histone H2B and was designated cvH2B. cvH2B had potent activity against gram-negative bacteria, including the human pathogens Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus, which commonly reside in oyster tissues. We estimated that the concentration of this protein was well within the concentration that was inhibitory to these bacterial pathogens in vitro. This is the first report of the antimicrobial function of histone H2B from any mollusk.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grant NA16-RG-2251 (R/AF-43 and R/AF-45) from the National Sea Grant College Program, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to the North Carolina Sea Grant College Program (EJN), grant NA16-RG-2251 (BR-01) from the National Sea Grant College Program (Marine Biotechnology Program; EJN), North Carolina Fishery Research Grant Project #06-AM-03 (EJN), and the National Research Initiative of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, grant number #2006-35204-17508 (EJN, JKS) and USDA Agricultural and Food Research Initiative, grant number 2009-03571 (EJN, JD Oliver).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, 4700 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC, 27606, USA

    Jung-Kil Seo, Jeana Stephenson & Edward J. Noga

  2. W.M. Keck Biotechnology Resource Laboratory, Yale University, 300 George Street, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    J. Myron Crawford & Kathryn L. Stone

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  1. Jung-Kil Seo
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  2. Jeana Stephenson
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  3. J. Myron Crawford
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  4. Kathryn L. Stone
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  5. Edward J. Noga
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Correspondence to Edward J. Noga.

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Seo, JK., Stephenson, J., Crawford, J.M. et al. American Oyster, Crassostrea virginica, Expresses a Potent Antibacterial Histone H2B Protein. Mar Biotechnol 12, 543–551 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-009-9240-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-009-9240-z

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