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Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 8, 4184-4191, Copyright © 1988 by Society for Neuroscience
Isolation, characterization, and evolutionary aspects of a cDNA clone encoding multiple neuropeptides involved in the stereotyped egg-laying behavior of the freshwater snail Lymnaea stagnalis
E Vreugdenhil, JF Jackson, T Bouwmeester, AB Smit, J Van Minnen, H Van Heerikhuizen, J Klootwijk and J Joosse
Biological Laboratory, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The cerebral neurosecretory caudodorsal cells (CDCs) of the freshwater
pulmonate snail Lymnaea stagnalis control egg laying, an event that
involves a pattern of stereotyped behaviors. The CDCs synthesize and
release multiple peptides, among which is the ovulation hormone (CDCH). It
is thought that each peptide controls a specific aspect of the processes
involved in egg laying. We isolated and characterized a CDC- specific cDNA
clone that encodes the ovulation hormone (CDCH). RNA blot analysis and in
situ hybridization experiments demonstrated that the CDCs are the major
cell groups in the cerebral ganglia that transcribe the CDCH gene. In
addition to CDCH, the 259-amino acid-long CDCH preprohormone contains 11
other predicted peptides. The overall homology of the CDCH preprohormone
with the egg-laying hormone (ELH) preprohormones of the marine
opisthobranch snails Aplysia californica and A. parvula is very low (29 and
26%, respectively). However, a more detailed comparison revealed a highly
differential pattern of conservation of peptide regions. Significant
homology was found between the regions containing (1) CDCH and ELH, (2)
repeated pentapeptides, (3) alpha-caudodorsal cell peptide and alpha-bag
cell peptide, and (4) 2 regions representing as yet unidentified peptides.
Insignificant homology was found when comparing regions containing the
other predicted peptides. The conserved peptides probably control similar
aspects of the egg-laying fixed action patterns in these distantly related
gastropod species. The pentapeptide region exhibits the highest level of
homology (75%); in addition, an extra pentapeptide has been generated on
the CDCH precursor. This indicates a vital function of these peptides in
Aplysia, as well as in Lymnaea species.
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