Search results for "Pearl"
showing 10 items of 53 documents
Characterization of MRNP34, a novel methionine-rich nacre protein from the pearl oysters
2012
9 pages; International audience; Nacre of the Pinctada pearl oyster shells is composed of 98% CaCO(3) and 2% organic matrix. The relationship between the organic matrix and the mechanism of nacre formation currently constitutes the main focus regarding the biomineralization process. In this study, we isolated a new nacre matrix protein in P. margaritifera and P. maxima, we called Pmarg- and Pmax-MRNP34 (methionine-rich nacre protein). MRNP34 is a secreted hydrophobic protein, which is remarkably rich in methionine, and which is specifically localised in mineralizing the epithelium cells of the mantle and in the nacre matrix. The structure of this protein is drastically different from those …
Thermal stability of nacre proteins of the polynesian pearl oyster: a proteomic study.
2015
Mollusc shells are organic-inorganic composites that are often preserved in the fossil record. However, the way the organic fraction, also called shell matrix, gets fossilized remains an unsolved question, in spite of several old and more recent studies. In the present paper, we have tried to mimic a diagenetic process by constantly heating for ten days at 100°C fresh nacre powder samples of the Polynesian pearl oyster Pinctadamargaritifera. Each day, aliquots of nacre powder were sampled and the matrix was subsequently extracted. It was further analysed by direct weigh quantification, by immunological techniques and by proteomics. Our preliminary data suggest that nacre proteins, when heat…
Variation in the COI gene of the freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera from River Vuokkijoki
2017
The freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera L. is one of the most endangered freshwater mussels in the world. Effective conservation of threatened species requires not only ecological, but also genetic information from the target species and populations. Since low genetic diversity can reduce the ability of a species to adapt to environmental changes, maintaining genetic diversity has been identified as one of the key elements in successful conservation programs. We examined genetic variation of the freshwater pearl mussel from the River Vuokkijoki, Karelia, Russia. We sequenced a fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI) from 22 individuals and compared the data…
Effect of substrate particle size on burrowing of the juvenile freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera
2021
AbstractJuveniles of the endangered freshwater pearl mussel (FPM,Margaritifera margaritifera) live burrowed in stream substrate for the first years of their life. Fine sediments block water exchange within substrate and may cause juvenile mortality and recruitment failure. To better understand the connection between success of juvenile FPM and substrate particle size, it would be important to understand behavioural responses of FPM to varying substrate sizes at this critical life stage. We placed newly detached FPM juveniles in a 7-mm layer of sieved sand sorted into five sizes (< 120, 120–200, 200–250, 250–500 and 500–650 µm) each with 10 replicate dishes, 10 juveniles per dish, with bu…
The onset of the rainy season and farmers’ sowing strategy for pearl millet cultivation in Southwest Niger
2011
A multi-year (2004-2009) field survey of on-farm sowing practices in 10 villages located in south-west Niger close to Niamey, is analysed to investigate the relationships (i) between rainfall and the sowing date of pearl millet and the risk of sowing failure, (ii) between sowing and meteorological/agro-climatic onset dates, (iii) between sowing/onset dates, and simulated and observed yield/biomass at the end of the season. Even if some villages sow without any synchronous or anterior rainfall, most parcels (73% out of the 1551 available cases) are sown during and just after a 2-day wet spell receiving at least 10 mm. In fact, there is a strong correlation (r = 0.82-0.95 depending on onset d…
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (Salmo trutta) differ in their suitability as hosts for the endangered freshwater pearl mussel (Margari…
2017
European populations of the freshwater pearl mussel (FPM, Margaritifera margaritifera) have collapsed across much of the species’ geographic range and, despite many types of conservation intervention, the number of successful restoration efforts has been low. The goal of this study was to determine whether there were population-specific differences in the suitability of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and brown trout (S. trutta) as hosts for the parasitic glochidium larvae of FPM. We predicted that such differences would depend on the historical occurrence of these salmonid species in FPM habitats. We studied the potential host specificity both in the field and in laboratory by exposing salmo…
Identification of Chinese fresh-water pearls using MN2+ activated cathodoluminescence
2000
Fresh-water tissue graft-cultured pearls from China were investigated using hot cathode and cold cathode cathodoluminescence microscopes. Supplementary investigations were done using X-radiography, a Scanning Electron Microscope, an optical microscope, and an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). The results were compared with those of natural fresh-water pearls from the Mississippi river. Thin sections of fresh-water natural pearls from the Mississippi river could be distinguished from those of fresh-water tissue graft cultured pearls from China using a hot cathode cathodoluminescence microscope according to the distribution of Mn2+ as follows: (1) Fresh-water tissue graft cultured pearls from Ch…
Effect of glochidia infection on growth of fish : freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera and brown trout Salmo trutta
2019
AbstractEffect of freshwater mussels’ (Unionoida) glochidia on the growth of fish host has remained poorly studied. We compared the specific growth rate of the juvenile, PIT-marked brown trout (Salmo trutta) between uninfected controls to those experimentally infected (average initial intensity of infection 8000 fish−1) with Margaritifera margaritifera glochidia, kept in high and low feeding. Growth and mortality of fish were monitored for 10 months. Our hypothesis was that glochidiosis would impair the growth of fish. According to our hypothesis, infected fish gained statistically significantly less weight than the control fish throughout the experiment. A proportional increase in weight o…
Pmarg-pearlin is a matrix protein involved in nacre framework formation in the pearl oyster Pinctada margaritifera.
2011
11 pages; International audience; The shell of pearl oysters is organized in multiple layers of CaCO(3) crystallites packed together in an organic matrix. Relationships between the components of the organic matrix and mechanisms of nacre formation currently constitute the main focus of research into biomineralization. In this study, we characterized the pearlin protein from the oyster Pinctada margaritifera (Pmarg); this shares structural features with other members of a matrix protein family, N14/N16/pearlin. Pmarg pearlin exhibits calcium- and chitin-binding properties. Pmarg pearlin transcripts are distinctively localized in the mineralizing tissue responsible for nacre formation. More s…
Characterization of molecular processes involved in the pearl formation in Pinctada margaritifera for the sustainable development of pearl farming in…
2011
11 pages; International audience