Bivalve aquaculture plays a crucial role in the aquaculture industry due to the economic value of many bivalve species.Understanding the underlying genetic basis of bivalve growth regulation is essential for enhancing...Bivalve aquaculture plays a crucial role in the aquaculture industry due to the economic value of many bivalve species.Understanding the underlying genetic basis of bivalve growth regulation is essential for enhancing germplasm innovation and ensuring sustainable development of the industry.Though numerous candidate genes have been identified,their functional validation remains challenging.Fortunately,the dwarf surf clam(Mulinia lateralis)serves as a promising model organism for investigating genetic mechanisms underlying growth regulation in bivalves.The GWAS study in the Yesso scallop(Patinopecten yessoensis)has pinpointed the E2F3 gene as a key regulator of growth-related traits.However,the specific role of E2F3 in bivalve growth remains unclear.This study aimed to further confirm the regulatory function of the E2F3 gene in the dwarf surf clam through RNA interference experiments.Our results revealed several genes are associated with individual growth and development,including CTS7,HSP70B2,and PGLYRP3,as well as genes involved in lipid metabolism such as FABP2 and FASN.Functional enrichment analysis indicated that E2F3 primarily modulates critical processes like amino acid and lipid metabolism.These findings suggest that E2F3 likely regulates growth in the dwarf surf clam by influencing amino acid and lipid metabolism.Overall,this study advances our understanding on the function of E2F3 gene in growth regulation in bivalves,providing valuable insights for future research in this field.展开更多
A better understanding of genetic bases of growth regulation is essential for bivalve breeding,which is helpful to improve the yield of the commercially important bivalves.While previous studies have identified some c...A better understanding of genetic bases of growth regulation is essential for bivalve breeding,which is helpful to improve the yield of the commercially important bivalves.While previous studies have identified some candidate genes accounting for variation in growth-related traits through genotype-phenotype association analyses,seldom of them have verified the functions of these putative,growth-related genes beyond the genomic level due to the difficulty of culturing commercial bivalves under laboratory conditions.Fortunately,dwarf surf clam Mulinia lateralis can serve as a model organism for studying marine bivalves given its short generation time,the feasibility of being grown under experimental conditions and the availability of genetic and biological information.Using dwarf surf clam as a model bivalve,we characterize E2F3,a gene that has been found to account for variation in growth in scallops by a previous genome-wide association study,and verify its function in growth regulation through RNA interference(RNAi)experiments.For the first time,E2F3 in dwarf surf clam,which is termed as MulE2F3,is characterized.The results reveal that dwarf surf clams with MulE2F3 knocked down exhibit a reduction in both shell size and soft-tissue weight,indicating the functions of MulE2F3 in positively regulating bivalve growth.More importantly,we demonstrate how dwarf surf clam can be used as a model organism to investigate gene functions in commercial bivalves,shedding light on genetic causes for variation in growth to enhance the efficiency of bivalve farming.展开更多
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. U2106231)the Key Research and Development Project of Shandong Province (No. 2021 ZLGX03)the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFD2400303)
文摘Bivalve aquaculture plays a crucial role in the aquaculture industry due to the economic value of many bivalve species.Understanding the underlying genetic basis of bivalve growth regulation is essential for enhancing germplasm innovation and ensuring sustainable development of the industry.Though numerous candidate genes have been identified,their functional validation remains challenging.Fortunately,the dwarf surf clam(Mulinia lateralis)serves as a promising model organism for investigating genetic mechanisms underlying growth regulation in bivalves.The GWAS study in the Yesso scallop(Patinopecten yessoensis)has pinpointed the E2F3 gene as a key regulator of growth-related traits.However,the specific role of E2F3 in bivalve growth remains unclear.This study aimed to further confirm the regulatory function of the E2F3 gene in the dwarf surf clam through RNA interference experiments.Our results revealed several genes are associated with individual growth and development,including CTS7,HSP70B2,and PGLYRP3,as well as genes involved in lipid metabolism such as FABP2 and FASN.Functional enrichment analysis indicated that E2F3 primarily modulates critical processes like amino acid and lipid metabolism.These findings suggest that E2F3 likely regulates growth in the dwarf surf clam by influencing amino acid and lipid metabolism.Overall,this study advances our understanding on the function of E2F3 gene in growth regulation in bivalves,providing valuable insights for future research in this field.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.U2106231)the National Key R&D Program of China(No.2022YFD2400303)the Key R&D Project of Shandong Province(No.2022 TZXD003).
文摘A better understanding of genetic bases of growth regulation is essential for bivalve breeding,which is helpful to improve the yield of the commercially important bivalves.While previous studies have identified some candidate genes accounting for variation in growth-related traits through genotype-phenotype association analyses,seldom of them have verified the functions of these putative,growth-related genes beyond the genomic level due to the difficulty of culturing commercial bivalves under laboratory conditions.Fortunately,dwarf surf clam Mulinia lateralis can serve as a model organism for studying marine bivalves given its short generation time,the feasibility of being grown under experimental conditions and the availability of genetic and biological information.Using dwarf surf clam as a model bivalve,we characterize E2F3,a gene that has been found to account for variation in growth in scallops by a previous genome-wide association study,and verify its function in growth regulation through RNA interference(RNAi)experiments.For the first time,E2F3 in dwarf surf clam,which is termed as MulE2F3,is characterized.The results reveal that dwarf surf clams with MulE2F3 knocked down exhibit a reduction in both shell size and soft-tissue weight,indicating the functions of MulE2F3 in positively regulating bivalve growth.More importantly,we demonstrate how dwarf surf clam can be used as a model organism to investigate gene functions in commercial bivalves,shedding light on genetic causes for variation in growth to enhance the efficiency of bivalve farming.