Descripción del proyecto
MARINE MUSSELS FROM MYTILUS SPECIES HAS ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION OF MANY RESEARCHERS BECAUSE OF THEIR UNUSUAL (DOUBLY UNIPARENTAL) MODE OF MITOCHONDRIAL DNA INHERITANCE KNOWN AS DUI, AND THE ABILITY TO HYBRIDISE IN COASTAL REGIONS WHERE THEIR DISTRIBUTION OVERLAP, IN ORDER TO PRESERVE THEIR GENOME INTEGRITY AND MITONUCLEAR COMPATIBILITY, DESPITE EXTENSIVE HYBRIDISATION, POSTZYGOTIC REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION MECHANISMS ARE LIKELY TO BE OPERATING, DUI IS LINKED TO SEX DETERMINATION, THOUGH MOLECULAR MECHANISMS UNDERLYING BOTH PROCESSES ARE STILL UNKNOWN, AND MIGHT PLAY ALSO A ROLE IN REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION BASED ON REPORTED EVIDENCE OF DUI DISRUPTION IN HYBRIDS, HIGH-PERFORMANCE GENOMIC AND PROTEOMIC TECHNOLOGY IS ALLOWING TO ACCELERATE RESEARCH IN DUI, SEX DETERMINATION AND REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION BECAUSE CLASSICAL STUDIES CAN BE NOW EASILY EXPANDED TO A LARGE SET OF GENES AND PROTEINS OF THE MITOCHONDRIA, HENCE IT CAN BE HYPOTHESIZED THAT A COMBINATION OF A MASSIVE GENOMIC AND PROTEOMIC ANALYSIS ON MITOGENOMES AND MITOPROTEOMES RESPECTIVELY OBTAINED FROM MUSSELS OF TWO CLOSELY-RELATED MYTILUS SPECIES, INCLUDING HYBRIDS WITH DIFFERENT MITONUCLEAR GENOMIC COMPOSITION, COULD PROVIDE IMPORTANT KNOWLEDGE ABOUT GENETIC AND FUNCTIONAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO TYPES OF MTDNA (M AND F) FOUND IN MUSSELS, AND THEREFORE ABOUT THE ORIGIN AND MAINTENANCE OF THE DUI, GIVEN THAT THE DUI IS ASSOCIATED WITH SEX DETERMINATION OF MUSSELS, IT IS EXPECTED THAT THESE ANALYSES WILL ALLOW US ALSO TO SHED LIGHT ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF ITS UNDERLYING MOLECULAR MECHANISM, FROM THE LIST OF MITOCHONDRIAL PROTEINS WITH DIFFERENTIAL EXPRESSION BETWEEN MYTILUS SPECIES, THAT THEREFORE REFLECT THEIR DISTINCTIVE BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES, THOSE PROTEINS THAT HAVE AN IMPORTANT FUNCTION IN THE BIOLOGY OF THE MITOCHONDRIA AND FERTILIZATION WILL BE SELECTED AND FURTHER ANALYSED FROM AN EVOLUTIONARY VIEWPOINT, INCLUDING INVESTIGATION OF THEIR POTENTIAL IMPLICATION IN REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION, DUI AND SEX DETERMINATION, FINALLY WE PROPOSE TO SET UP A PROGRAMME TO PRODUCE UNISEX MUSSEL LINES WITH THE LOCAL MUSSEL MYTILUS GALLOPROVINCIALIS, MUSSELS FROM THESE LINES WILL ENSURE THAT FURTHER STUDIES ABOUT DUI AND SEX DETERMINATION MECHANISMS COULD BE CARRIED OUT FOLLOWING AN APPROPRIATE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN, A STABLE PRODUCTION OF THESE MUSSEL LINES PROVIDES ALSO THE POTENTIAL TO FURTHER IMPLEMENT A PROGRAM BASED ON SEED PRODUCTION SELECTED FOR GONAD COLOUR (STRONGLY ASSOCIATED TO MUSSEL SEX), SOMETHING THAT HAS ALREADY DRAWN THE ATTENTION OF MUSSEL AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY IN SPAIN, CANADA AND USA, WE PROPOSE ALSO TO DEVELOP APPROPRIATE CRYOPRESERVATION PROTOCOLS OF MUSSEL GAMETES AND EARLY LARVAE STAGES TO AVOID EXCESSIVE DEPENDENCE ON THE SEASONALITY OF THE NATURAL REPRODUCTIVE CYCLE IN MUSSELS TO EXTEND FERTILIZATION AND PRODUCTION OF LARVAE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR BUT ALSO FOR SAVING COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MAINTENANCE OF A LARGE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS IN BREEDING PROGRAMS, GENETICA\ADNMT\GENOMICA\PROTEOMICA\MEJILLONES MARINOS\ACUICULTURA\DETERMINACION DEL SEXO\AISLAMIENTO REPRODUCTIVO