Mollusca evolutionary success can be attributed partly to their efficiency to sustain and protect their soft body with an external biomineralized structure, the shell. Current knowledge of the protein set responsible for the formation of the shell microstructural polymorphism and unique properties remains largely patchy. In Pinctada margaritifera and Pinctada maxima, we identified 80 shell matrix proteins, among which 66 are entirely unique. This is the only description of the whole "biomineralization toolkit" of the matrices that, at least in part, is thought to regulate the formation of the prismatic and nacreous shell layers in the pearl oysters. We unambiguously demonstrate that prisms and nacre are assembled from very different protein repertoires. This suggests that these layers do not derive from each other.mantle | mollusk shell matrix proteins | proteome | transcriptome | evolution

The capacity to biomineralize is closely linked to the rapid expansion of animal life during the early Cambrian, with many skeletonized phyla first appearing in the fossil record at this time. The appearance of disparate molluscan forms during this period leaves open the possibility that shells evolved independently and in parallel in at least some groups. To test this proposition and gain insight into the evolution of structural genes that contribute to shell fabrication, we compared genes expressed in nacre (mother-of-pearl) forming cells in the mantle of the bivalve Pinctada maxima and the gastropod Haliotis asinina. Despite both species having highly lustrous nacre, we find extensive differences in these expressed gene sets. Following the removal of housekeeping genes, less than 10% of all gene clusters are shared between these molluscs, with some being conserved biomineralization genes that are also found in deuterostomes. These differences extend to secreted proteins that may localize to the organic shell matrix, with less than 15% of this secretome being shared. Despite these differences, H. asinina and P. maxima both secrete proteins with repetitive low-complexity domains (RLCDs). Pinctada maxima RLCD proteins-for example, the shematrins-are predominated by silk/fibroin-like domains, which are absent from the H. asinina data set. Comparisons of shematrin genes across three species of Pinctada indicate that this gene family has undergone extensive divergent evolution within pearl oysters. We also detect fundamental bivalve-gastropod differences in extracellular matrix proteins involved in mollusc-shell formation. Pinctada maxima expresses a chitin synthase at high levels and several chitin deacetylation genes, whereas only one protein involved in chitin interactions is present in the H. asinina data set, suggesting that the organic matrix on which calcification proceeds differs fundamentally between these species. Large-scale differences in genes expressed in nacre-forming cells of Pinctada and Haliotis are compatible with the hypothesis that gastropod and bivalve nacre is the result of convergent evolution. The expression of novel biomineralizing RLCD proteins in each of these two molluscs and, interestingly, sea urchins suggests that the evolution of such structural proteins has occurred independently multiple times in the Metazoa.

BackgroundThe shell of the pearl-producing bivalve Pinctada margaritifera is composed of an organic cell-free matrix that plays a key role in the dynamic process of biologically-controlled biomineralization. In order to increase genomic resources and identify shell matrix proteins implicated in biomineralization in P. margaritifera, high-throughput Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) pyrosequencing was undertaken on the calcifying mantle, combined with a proteomic analysis of the shell.ResultsWe report the functional analysis of 276 738 sequences, leading to the constitution of an unprecedented catalog of 82 P. margaritifera biomineralization-related mantle protein sequences. Components of the current "chitin-silk fibroin gel-acidic macromolecule" model of biomineralization processes were found, in particular a homolog of a biomineralization protein (Pif-177) recently discovered in P. fucata. Among these sequences, we could show the localization of two other biomineralization protein transcripts, pmarg-aspein and pmarg-pearlin, in two distinct areas of the outer mantle epithelium, suggesting their implication in calcite and aragonite formation. Finally, by combining the EST approach with a proteomic mass spectrometry analysis of proteins isolated from the P. margaritifera shell organic matrix, we demonstrated the presence of 30 sequences containing almost all of the shell proteins that have been previously described from shell matrix protein analyses of the Pinctada genus. The integration of these two methods allowed the global composition of biomineralizing tissue and calcified structures to be examined in tandem for the first time.ConclusionsThis EST study made on the calcifying tissue of P. margaritifera is the first description of pyrosequencing on a pearl-producing bivalve species. Our results provide direct evidence that our EST data set covers most of the diversity of the matrix protein of P. margaritifera shell, but also that the mantle transcripts encode proteins present in P. margaritifera shell, hence demonstrating their implication in shell formation. Combining transcriptomic and proteomic approaches is therefore a powerful way to identify proteins involved in biomineralization. Data generated in this study supply the most comprehensive list of biomineralization-related sequences presently available among protostomian species, and represent a major breakthrough in the field of molluskan biomineralization.

In this study, we analyzed the combined effect of microalgal concentration and temperature on the shell growth of the bivalve Pinctada margaritifera and the molecular mechanisms underlying this biomineralization process. Shell growth was measured after two months of rearing in experimental conditions, using calcein staining of the calcified structures. Molecular mechanisms were studied though the expression of 11 genes encoding proteins implicated in the biomineralization process, which was assessed in the mantle. We showed that shell growth is influenced by both microalgal concentration and temperature, and that these environmental factors also regulate the expression of most of the genes studied. Gene expression measurement of shell matrix protein thereby appears to be an appropriate indicator for the evaluation of the biomineralization activity in the pearl oyster P. margaritifera under varying environmental conditions. This study provides valuable information on the molecular mechanisms of mollusk shell growth and its environmental control.

Nacre of the Pinctada pearl oyster shells is composed of 98% CaCO3 and 2% organic matrix. The relationship between the organic matrix and the mechanism of nacre formation currently constitutes the main focus regarding the biomineralization process. In this study, we isolated a new nacre matrix protein in P. margaritifera and P. maxima, we called Pmarg- and Pmax-MRNP34 (methionine-rich nacre protein). MRNP34 is a secreted hydrophobic protein, which is remarkably rich in methionine, and which is specifically localised in mineralizing the epithelium cells of the mantle and in the nacre matrix. The structure of this protein is drastically different from those of the other nacre proteins already described. This unusual methionine-rich protein is a new member in the growing list of low complexity domain containing proteins that are associated with biocalcifications. These observations offer new insights to the molecular mechanisms of biomineralization.