Abstract
Nitric Oxide (NO) plays a key role in the induction of larval metamorphosis in several invertebrate phyla. The inhibition of the NO synthase in Crepidula fornicata, a molluscan model for evolutionary, developmental, and ecological research, has been demonstrated to block the initiation of metamorphosis highlighting that endogenous NO is crucial in the control of this developmental and morphological process. Nitric Oxide Synthase contributes to the development of shell gland, digestive gland and kidney, being expressed in cells that presumably correspond to FMRF-amide, serotoninergic and catecolaminergic neurons. Here we identified a single Nos gene in embryonic and larval transcriptomes of C. fornicata and studied its localization during development, through whole-mount in situ hybridization, in order to compare its expression pattern with that of other marine invertebrate animal models.
Highlights
The metamorphosis of competent larvae of marine organisms is under endogenous inhibitory control
The role of Nitric Oxide (NO) has been extensively studied in the phylum Mollusca and, similar to other phyla, it clearly exerts a predominant function as a negative regulator of metamorphosis, as reported in the hard-shelled mussel Mytilus coruscus [7], the slipper shell snail Crepidula fornicata [8], the eastern mudsnail Ilyanassa obsoleta [9], the sea slug Alderia willowi [10], and the Pacific oyster Crassostera gigas [11] (Table 1)
We identified by comparative sequence analysis the binding domains for calmodulin (CaM), and the cofactors heme, tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), flavin mononucleotide (FMN), flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) (Figure 1A)
Summary
The metamorphosis of competent larvae of marine organisms is under endogenous inhibitory control. Several experimental pieces of evidence demonstrated that Nitric Oxide (NO), an endogenous gaseous molecule, is key for the induction of larval metamorphosis in several invertebrate phyla. The role of NO has been extensively studied in the phylum Mollusca and, similar to other phyla, it clearly exerts a predominant function as a negative regulator of metamorphosis, as reported in the hard-shelled mussel Mytilus coruscus [7], the slipper shell snail Crepidula fornicata [8], the eastern mudsnail Ilyanassa obsoleta [9], the sea slug Alderia willowi [10], and the Pacific oyster Crassostera gigas [11] (Table 1). In other molluscs NO has been implicated in many other biological functions, such as development and neurotransmission [12,13], immune response [14,15,16], feeding behavior and chemosensory activation [13,17], olfaction [18,19,20] and stress response [21] (Table 1)
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