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Identification of Immune Genes of the Agamaki Clam (Sinonovacula constricta) by Sequencing and Bioinformatic Analysis of ESTs

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Abstract

The Agamaki clam (Sinonovacula constricta) is an economically important shellfish in Asia. However, genomic research on this species is still in its infancy, and genomic resources are largely unavailable. The objective of this study was to generate expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from a normalized liver complementary DNA library and to identify genes that function in immune defense. A total of 5,296 ESTs were sequenced, from which 540 contigs and 3,473 singletons were identified. BLAST homology analysis indicated that only 20.7% of these ESTs were homologues of known genes while the remaining 79.3% appeared to be novel sequences. Based on sequence similarities, 43 putative immune genes were identified that encode proteases and protease inhibitors, adhesive proteins, stress proteins, lysosomal enzymes, and signal transduction regulators. Our study thus provides both a large collection of novel transcripts and a detailed annotation of immune genes for an important bivalve species.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grants from “863” Hi-tech research and development program of China (2006 AA10 A410) and Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project (Y1101).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Exploration and Utilization of Aquatic Genetic Resources, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Bingbing Feng, Donghong Niu, Dabo Liu & Jiale Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Lingli Dong, Shanshan Meng, Bing Zhang & Songnian Hu

  3. Division of Aquaculture, E-Institute of Shanghai Universities, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Jiale Li

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  1. Bingbing Feng
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  5. Bing Zhang
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Correspondence to Songnian Hu or Jiale Li.

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B. Feng and L. Dong contributed equally to this study.

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Feng, B., Dong, L., Niu, D. et al. Identification of Immune Genes of the Agamaki Clam (Sinonovacula constricta) by Sequencing and Bioinformatic Analysis of ESTs. Mar Biotechnol 12, 282–291 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-009-9216-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-009-9216-z

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