Molecular characterization of a cDNA encoding putative vitellogenin from the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas

To elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in oogenesis, we applied a differential display method to identify genes whose expression was detected only in ovaries containing oocytes. One of the cDNA fragments isolated by mRNA differential display was similar in structure to vitellogenin. Using this fragment, a full-length cDNA encoding putative vitellogenin in the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas was cloned by RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends), and its amino acid sequence was deduced. The open reading frame predicted 1583 amino acid residues. The deduced primary structure of putative vitellogenin in C. gigas was shown to be similar to vitellogenins of various other mollusk, fish, crustacean and nematode species, especially in the N-terminal region. Reverse transcription-mediated PCR revealed that mRNA encoding putative vitellogenin was expressed only in the ovary. In situ hybridization analysis revealed that putative vitellogenin mRNA was expressed strongly in the follicle cells in the ovary. It is concluded that the follicle cells are the site of putative vitellogenin synthesis.