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Population differences in nerve resistance to paralytic shellfish toxins in softshell clam, Mya arenaria, associated with sodium channel mutations

From National Research Council Canada

DOIResolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0432-z
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Name affiliation
  1. National Research Council of Canada. NRC Institute for Marine Biosciences
FormatText, Article
Subjectmutation; nerves; nucleotide sequence; saxitoxin; sodium channels; sodium channels (voltage-gated); toxins; genomics; mRNA; Alexandrium bivalvia; Mya arenaria
Abstract
The softshell clam, Mya arenaria, is a commercially important bivalve with wide latitudinal distribution in North America. Populations of clams with a history of repeated exposure to toxic Alexandrium spp. have developed a natural resistance to the paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) produced by these algae. An association between PST resistance in individual clams and a single mutation in the saxitoxin (STX) binding region of the -subunit of the voltage-gated sodium (Na+) channel gene was previously identifed. Here we establish that more than one mutation associated with nerve resistance to STX occurred at this locus. Both cDNA from mRNA and genomic DNA sequences from individual clams are identical demonstrating that both alleles are expressed simultaneously. In addition, one resistant allele per individual is suYcient to confer neural resistance to STX even though heterozygous individuals show an intermediate level of resistance to STX in in vitro nerve trunk assays.
Publication date
Terms of use
  • © Springer-Verlag 2006
In
  • Marine Biology 150, no. 6 (15 September 2006): 1227–1236.
LanguageEnglish
Peer reviewedYes
NRC number1223
NRCC 55853
NPARC number3538035
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Record identifier343e0527-1ee7-45a3-a5b6-a1c11075e4de
Record created2009-03-01
Record modified2020-04-22
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