%0 Journal Article
%T Proteomic analysis during larval development and metamorphosis of the spionid polychaete Pseudopolydora vexillosa
%A Flora SY Mok
%A Vengatesen Thiyagarajan
%A Pei-Yuan Qian
%J Proteome Science
%D 2009
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1477-5956-7-44
%X Unlike the significant changes found during barnacle metamorphosis, proteomes of competent P. vexillosa larvae were more similar to those of their juveniles. Pre-competent larvae had significantly fewer protein spots (384 spots), while both competent larvae and juveniles expressed about 660 protein spots each. Proteins up-regulated during competence identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF analysis included a molecular chaperon (calreticulin), a signal transduction regulator (tyrosin activation protein), and a tissue-remodeling enzyme (metallopeptidase).This was the first time to study the protein expression patterns during the metamorphosis of a marine polychaete and to compare the proteomes of marine invertebrates that have different levels of morphological changes during metamorphosis. The findings provide promising initial steps towards the development of a proteome database for marine invertebrate metamorphosis, thus deciphering the possible mechanisms underlying larval metamorphosis in non-model marine organisms.Marine invertebrates have a biphasic life cycle that includes a pelagic larval stage that is morphologically distinct from the adult form [1]. Their larvae typically metamorphose into juveniles or adults simultaneously with or directly following settlement out of the water column; they will subsequently colonize and structure the benthic communities [2]. Marine industries also target settlement and metamorphosis processes when developing methods to eliminate species that deteriorate infrastructure and commercial resources by biofouling man-made surfaces or interfering with aquaculture [3,4].In general, common features of marine invertebrate metamorphosis include tissue remodeling and differentiation that are under hormonal or transcriptional control and are mediated by differential gene and protein expressions [5]. However, the specific mechanisms of metamorphosis vary from species to species [6,7]. For example, since the metamorphic transitions in different taxa m
%U http://www.proteomesci.com/content/7/1/44