Differential expression of three galaxin-related genes during settlement and metamorphosis in the scleractinian coral Acropora millepora.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The coral skeleton consists of CaCO3 deposited upon an organic matrix primarily as aragonite. Currently galaxin, from Galaxea fascicularis, is the only soluble protein component of the organic matrix that has been characterized from a coral. Three genes related to galaxin were identified in the coral Acropora millepora.

Results

One of the Acropora genes (Amgalaxin) encodes a clear galaxin ortholog, while the others (Amgalaxin-like 1 and Amgalaxin-like 2) encode larger and more divergent proteins. All three proteins are predicted to be extracellular and share common structural features, most notably the presence of repetitive motifs containing dicysteine residues. In situ hybridization reveals distinct, but partially overlapping, spatial expression of the genes in

SUBMITTER: Reyes-Bermudez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2726143 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature