The activity parameters, cDNA cloning and mRNA expression of lysozyme in Cyclina sinensis (Bivalvia, Veneridae) responding to the pathogenic bacterium Vibrio anguillarum

ABSTRACT

Lysozyme is an important component of the innate immune response against pathogen infection. The functional forms have been well-studied in the c-type lysozymes of vertebrates but less so in i-type lysozymes prevalent in most invertebrate animals. Cyclina sinensis is a commercially important marine venerid bivalve that is abundant and widely distributed around the maritime coasts of Asia. We obtained an i-type lysozyme (i-lyz) gene in C. sinensis by large scale EST sequencing of a SMART-cDNA library. In C. sinensis, the i-lyz gene encodes 181 amino acids. The lysozyme activities and the mRNA levels of the i-lyz gene in haemocytes were upregulated during the infection by a bacterium, Vibrio anguillarum. The lysozyme activity in haemocytes was increased after 12 h infection by V. anguillarum, and reached the highest level at 24 h post-infection, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.01). The expression level of the i-lyz gene in haemocytes was increased after 3 h infection of Vibrio, and reached the highest level at 6 h post-infection. A recombinant i-lyz was obtained through prokaryotic expression which, when isolated and purified, had a molecular weight of approximately 19 kDa. Western blotting was used to validate the expression of the fusion protein. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the recombinant i-lyz protein has obvious bacteriostatic activity upon Escherichia coli whereby the K value of the curve was significantly lower than control and blank groups. Our study shows that the C. sinensis i-type lysozyme plays an important role in the immune defence against V . anguillarum and provides a theoretical reference for clarifying the mechanism of immune response against pathogen invasion in this bivalve.

KEYWORDS:

• Bacteriostatic activity
• Cyclina sinensis
• innate immune response
• i-type lysozymes

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Applied Basic Research Programmes of the Science and Technology Commission Foundation of Tianjin PR China (Key Programme 12JCZDJC22800, 09JCZDJC19300 and 14JCZDJC34200).