Molecular characterization of the α-subunit of Na⁺/K⁺ ATPase from the euryhaline barnacle Balanus improvisus reveals multiple genes and differential expression of alternative splice variants.

ABSTRACT: The euryhaline bay barnacle Balanus improvisus has one of the broadest salinity tolerances of any barnacle species. It is able to complete its life cycle in salinities close to freshwater (3 PSU) up to fully marine conditions (35 PSU) and is regarded as one of few truly brackish-water species. Na⁺/K⁺ ATPase (NAK) has been shown to be important for osmoregulation when marine organisms are challenged by changing salinities, and we therefore cloned and examined the expression of different NAKs from B. improvisus. We found two main gene variants, NAK1 and NAK2, which were approximately 70% identical at the protein level. The NAK1 mRNA existed in a long and short variant with the encoded proteins differing only by 27 N-terminal amino acids. This N-terminal stretch was coded for by a separate ex

SUBMITTER: Lind U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3793950 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature