The giant triton snail Charonia tritonis is a marine large carnivorous gastropoda inhabiting in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.Their splendid and highly organized Charonia tritonis shells are attractive;however few studies ha...The giant triton snail Charonia tritonis is a marine large carnivorous gastropoda inhabiting in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.Their splendid and highly organized Charonia tritonis shells are attractive;however few studies have been conducted on shell ultra-structure and pigmentation.The arrangements of crossed-lamellar structures were distinctive for the giant triton snail shell,showing three layers of mineral structures in the cross-section.The 1st-order and 2nd-order lamellae of the shell were around 10-20μm and the crystals in outer layers intersected at right angles in this species.They were identified as aragonite crystals by Raman scattering,and granular organic matrix were attached to the aragonite mineral phase closely.Furthermore,the dominant Raman spectra from polyene pigments in the shell were characterized at wavenumbers of 1123 cm^(-1)and 1504 cm^(-1),assigned to stretching vibrations of carbon-carbon single(C-C)and double(C=C)bonds,and the polyene chain was confirmed with 11-12 C-C bonds and 12-13 conju-gated C=C bonds.The research will lay a foundation for exploring the relationship between the calcareous shell and the formation of shell color in the giant triton snail.展开更多
Conotoxin(CTX)is a small peptide toxin,and plays crucial role in anesthetizes prey,preys and defends competitors.Charonia tritonis is the natural predator of the crown of thorns starfish(CoTS)and the protector of cora...Conotoxin(CTX)is a small peptide toxin,and plays crucial role in anesthetizes prey,preys and defends competitors.Charonia tritonis is the natural predator of the crown of thorns starfish(CoTS)and the protector of coral reefs.It plays an important role in the coral reef ecosystem.However,the types of toxins produced by tritons and the molecular mechanisms of toxin secretion of C.tritonis are unknown.In the present study,the four conotoxin homologous genes(CTXs)from C.tritonis were identified.Species and conotoxin superfamily phylogenetic tree indicated that CTX-1(CL2216.Contig2)and CTX-4(Unigene 58438_All)belong to the C superfamily,CTX-2(Unigene 66414_All)belong to the V superfamily,and CTX-3(Unigene 21408_All)belong to the B1 superfamily.CTXs were highly expressed in salivary gland,liver and digestive gland.The predation control experiment revealed that the expressions of CTXs were significantly different in salivary gland,liver and digestive gland.The results indicated that CTXs may participate in the process of C.tritonis predating CoTs,and provided a scientific basis for further studying the toxins secretion mechanism of C.tritonis.展开更多
基金funded by the Guangzhou Sci-ence and Technology Project(No.201803020017).
文摘The giant triton snail Charonia tritonis is a marine large carnivorous gastropoda inhabiting in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.Their splendid and highly organized Charonia tritonis shells are attractive;however few studies have been conducted on shell ultra-structure and pigmentation.The arrangements of crossed-lamellar structures were distinctive for the giant triton snail shell,showing three layers of mineral structures in the cross-section.The 1st-order and 2nd-order lamellae of the shell were around 10-20μm and the crystals in outer layers intersected at right angles in this species.They were identified as aragonite crystals by Raman scattering,and granular organic matrix were attached to the aragonite mineral phase closely.Furthermore,the dominant Raman spectra from polyene pigments in the shell were characterized at wavenumbers of 1123 cm^(-1)and 1504 cm^(-1),assigned to stretching vibrations of carbon-carbon single(C-C)and double(C=C)bonds,and the polyene chain was confirmed with 11-12 C-C bonds and 12-13 conju-gated C=C bonds.The research will lay a foundation for exploring the relationship between the calcareous shell and the formation of shell color in the giant triton snail.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.42176129)the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(No.XDA13020206)+1 种基金the Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory(Guangzhou)(No.GML2019ZD0402)the Planning Project of Guangdong Province,China,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology(No.2020B1212060058).
文摘Conotoxin(CTX)is a small peptide toxin,and plays crucial role in anesthetizes prey,preys and defends competitors.Charonia tritonis is the natural predator of the crown of thorns starfish(CoTS)and the protector of coral reefs.It plays an important role in the coral reef ecosystem.However,the types of toxins produced by tritons and the molecular mechanisms of toxin secretion of C.tritonis are unknown.In the present study,the four conotoxin homologous genes(CTXs)from C.tritonis were identified.Species and conotoxin superfamily phylogenetic tree indicated that CTX-1(CL2216.Contig2)and CTX-4(Unigene 58438_All)belong to the C superfamily,CTX-2(Unigene 66414_All)belong to the V superfamily,and CTX-3(Unigene 21408_All)belong to the B1 superfamily.CTXs were highly expressed in salivary gland,liver and digestive gland.The predation control experiment revealed that the expressions of CTXs were significantly different in salivary gland,liver and digestive gland.The results indicated that CTXs may participate in the process of C.tritonis predating CoTs,and provided a scientific basis for further studying the toxins secretion mechanism of C.tritonis.
