Characterization of a defensin from the oyster Crassostrea gigas - Recombinant production, folding, solution structure, antimicrobial activities, and gene expression

Type Article
Date 2006
Language English
Author(s) Gueguen YannickORCID6, Herpin Amaury2, 5, Aumelas André3, Garnier Julien1, Fievet Julie6, Escoubas Jean-Michel1, Bulet Philippe4, Gonzalez Marcelo6, Lelong Christophe2, Favrel Pascal2, Bachere Evelyne6
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Montpellier 2, Infremer, CNRS, UMR 5171, F-34095 Montpellier 5, France.
2 : Univ Caen, UMR 100 Ifremer, Inst Biol Fondamentale & Appl, Lab Biol & Biotechnol Marines, F-14032 Caen, France.
3 : Univ Montpellier 1, Ctr Biochim Struct, CNRS, UMR 5048,INSERM U554, F-34090 Montpellier, France.
4 : Atheris Labs, CH-1233 Geneva, Switzerland.
5 : SARS Int Care Marine Mol Biol, Ctr High Technol, N-5008 Bergen, Norway.
Source Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (0021-9258) (American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), 2006 , Vol. 281 , N. 1 , P. 313-323
DOI 10.1074/jbc.M510850200
WOS© Times Cited 160
Keyword(s) Crassostrea gigas, Genomic library, Microbiology, Defensin, Oyster
Abstract In invertebrates, defensins were found in arthropods and in the mussels. Here, we report for the first time the identification and characterization of a defensin (Cg-Def) from an oyster. Cg-def mRNA was isolated from Crassostrea gigas mantle using an expressed sequence tag approach. To gain insight into potential roles of Cg-Def in oyster immunity, we produced the recombinant peptide in Escherichia coli, characterized its antimicrobial activities, determined its solution structure by NMR spectroscopy, and quantified its gene expression in vivo following bacterial challenge of oysters. Recombinant Cg-Def was active in vitro against Gram-positive bacteria but showed no or limited activities against Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. The activity of Cg-Def was retained in vitro at a salt concentration similar to that of seawater. The Cg-Def structure shares the so-called cystine-stabilized alpha-beta motif (CS-alpha beta) with arthropod defensins but is characterized by the presence of an additional disulfide bond, as previously observed in the mussel defensin (MGD-1). Nevertheless, despite a similar global fold, the Cg-Def and MGD-1 structures mainly differ by the size of their loops and by the presence of two aspartic residues in Cg-Def. Distribution of Cg-def mRNA in various oyster tissues revealed that Cg-def is mainly expressed in mantle edge where it was detected by mass spectrometry analyses. Furthermore, we observed that the Cg-def messenger concentration was unchanged after bacterial challenge. Our results suggest that Cg-def gene is continuously expressed in the mantle and would play a key role in oyster by providing a first line of defense against pathogen colonization.
Full Text
File Pages Size Access
publication-2127.pdf 25 700 KB Open access
Top of the page

How to cite 

Gueguen Yannick, Herpin Amaury, Aumelas André, Garnier Julien, Fievet Julie, Escoubas Jean-Michel, Bulet Philippe, Gonzalez Marcelo, Lelong Christophe, Favrel Pascal, Bachere Evelyne (2006). Characterization of a defensin from the oyster Crassostrea gigas - Recombinant production, folding, solution structure, antimicrobial activities, and gene expression. Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, 281(1), 313-323. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M510850200 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/2127/