Biphasic and dually coordinated expression of the genes encoding major shell matrix proteins in the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata

Regional expression patterns of shell matrix protein genes of Pinctada fucata were investigated using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in situ hybridization. Six shell matrix proteins examined in this study indicated a distinct biphasic pattern of expression, falling into one of the following three groups: (1) expressed only in the more dorsal region of the mantle (MSI60 and N16); (2) expressed only in the more ventral region (MSI31, Prismalin-14, and Aspein); and (3) expressed in both regions (nacrein). The ubiquity of the last protein probably reflects its general role as a carbonate-producing enzyme, while the other groups are interpreted as corresponding to the distinction between the two varieties of shell layers, the aragonitic nacreous layer and the calcitic prismatic layer. In addition, the constituent genes of each of these two groups indicated similar levels of relative expression among different sites even among different individuals, suggesting that the genes of each group share a single upstream regulatory factor, respectively, and that these genes are expressed in a dually coordinated fashion.