Research article summary (published 21 Sep 2009):

Transcriptome analysis of the central nervous system of the mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND: The freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis (L. stagnalis) has served as a successful model for studies in the field of Neuroscience. However, a serious drawback in the molecular analysis of the nervous system of L. stagnalis has been the lack of large-scale genomic or neuronal transcriptome information, thereby limiting the use of this unique model. RESULTS: In this study, we report 7,712 distinct EST sequences (median length: 847 nucleotides) of a normalized L. stagnalis central nervous system (CNS) cDNA library, resulting in the largest collection of L. stagnalis neuronal transcriptome data currently available. Approximately 42% of the cDNAs can be translated into more than 100 consecutive amino acids, indicating the high quality of the library. The annotated sequences contribute 12% of the predicted transcriptome size of 20,000. Surprisingly, approximately 37% of the L. stagnalis sequences only have a tBLASTx hit in the EST library of another snail species Aplysia californica (A. californica) even using a low stringency e-value cutoff at 0.01. Using the same cutoff, approximately 67% of the cDNAs have a BLAST hit in the NCBI non-redundant protein and nucleotide sequence databases (nr and nt), suggesting that one third of the sequences may be unique to L. stagnalis. Finally, using the same cutoff (0.01), more than half of the cDNA sequences (54%) do not have a hit in nematode, fruitfly or human genome data, suggesting that the L. stagnalis transcriptome is significantly different from these species as well. The cDNA sequences are enriched in the following gene ontology functional categories: protein binding, hydrolase, transferase, and catalytic enzymes. CONCLUSION: This study provides novel molecular insights into the transcriptome of an important molluscan model organism. Our findings will contribute to functional analyses in neurobiology, and comparative evolutionary biology. The L. stagnalis CNS EST database is available at http://www.Lymnaea.org/.

Author information

Author/s: Feng, Z-P (ZP); Zhang, Z (Z); van Kesteren, R E (RE); Straub, V A (VA); van Nierop, P (P); Jin, K (K); Nejatbakhsh, N (N); Goldberg, J I (JI); Spencer, G E (GE); Yeoman, M S (MS); Wildering, W (W); Coorssen, J R (JR); Croll, R P (RP); Buck, L T (LT); Syed, N I (NI); Smit, A B (AB);

Affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada. zp.feng(-atsign-)utoronto.ca

Grants: (Agency:Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: BMC genomics (BMC Genomics), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-; vol 10 (issue ) : pp 451

Dates: Created 2009/10/13; Completed 2009/10/30;

PMID: 19775440, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/30/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.

MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Amino Acid Sequence Animals Aplysia - genetics Biomphalaria - genetics Central Nervous System - metabolism Chromosome Mapping Comparative Genomic Hybridization Computational Biology

Computational Biology Expressed Sequence Tags Gene Expression Profiling Gene Library Lymnaea - genetics Molecular Sequence Data Phylogeny Sequence Alignment

Related articles

These are the highest related articles currently in the database:

• An expressed sequence tag survey of gene expression in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis, an intermediate vector of trematodes [corrected] 29 Apr 2005
• Evolution of nitric oxide synthase regulatory genes by DNA inversion. 30 Jul 2002
• The presence and specificity of crustacean cardioactive peptide (CCAP)-immunoreactivity in gastropod neurons. 30 Dec 1999
• Post-translational processing of the alternative neuropeptide precursor encoded by the FMRFamide gene in the pulmonate snail Lymnaea stagnalis. 29 Apr 1996
• Characterization of a cDNA clone encoding multiple copies of the neuropeptide APGWamide in the mollusk Lymnaea stagnalis. 29 Apr 1992
• Processing of the FMRFamide precursor protein in the snail Lymnaea stagnalis: characterization and neuronal localization of a novel peptide, 'SEEPLY'. 30 Jul 1993
• Myomodulin gene of Lymnaea: structure, expression, and analysis of neuropeptides. 13 Aug 1996
• CREB in the pond snail Lymnaea stagnalis: cloning, gene expression, and function in identifiable neurons of the central nervous system. 28 Feb 2004
• Mutually exclusive expression of alternatively spliced FMRFamide transcripts in identified neuronal systems of the snail Lymnaea. 30 May 1993
• A G-protein beta subunit that is expressed in the central nervous system of the mollusc Lymnaea stagnalis identified through cDNA cloning. 24 May 1994

See 100+ related articles.

Related Article Map

Legend: - FREE Full text Article. - Abstract only. - Title only. More help.

See a large map of 100+ related articles.