Conservation of Cancer Genes in the Marine Invertebrate Mytilus edulis

• Published in: Environmental science & technology Vol. 39; no. 9; pp. 3029 - 3033
• Main Authors: Ciocan, Corina M, Rotchell, Jeanette M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.05.2005
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Assay; Biotechnology; Bivalvia; Bivalvia - genetics; Cancer; Carcinogens - toxicity; Cloning; Cloning, Molecular; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on protozoa and invertebrates; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental science; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; Genes, p53; Genetic Markers; Invertebrata; Invertebrates; Molecular Sequence Data; Mollusks; Mytilus edulis; Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras) - genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence Homology; Toxicity; Mytilus edulis; Genotoxicity; Biological marker; Biological indicator; Carcinogen; TP53 Gene; Gene; Bivalvia; Isolation; Invertebrata; Mollusca; Ras gene
• ISSN: 0013-936X; 1520-5851
• DOI: 10.1021/es0400887

Mussels are susceptible to a wide range of environmental toxicants, including carcinogens, and thus are often employed as bioindicator species. To elucidate the molecular aetiology of such neoplastic damage, we have cloned Mytilus edulis homologues of the vertebrate ras proto-oncogene, and p53 tumor suppressor gene. The M. edulis ras cDNA encodes a predicted protein of 184 amino acids. The DNA sequence analysis with vertebrate ras sequences demonstrates that the M. edulis ras cDNA is highly conserved in regions of functional importance, including mutational hot spots. The partial p53 sequence also demonstrates that M. edulis p53 is highly conserved in two regions of functional importance and that these regions also include four of the five mutational hot spots for this gene. In contrast, the M. edulis p53 sequence shows little similarity to the other published invertebrate p53-like sequences. The cancer gene sequences characterized herein will allow development of specific biomarkers of genotoxic damage.