Perivitelline fluid explained
The perivitelline fluid is an extracellular fluid found in the eggs of most gastropods and constitutes the main source of nutrition and defense for their embryos. It replaces the egg yolk of other animals, which in snail eggs is reduced to non-nutritive proteinaceous granules with putative enzymatic function.[1]
During embryonic development the perivitelline fluid is ingested macropinocytotically by the embryos and the resulting phagosomes fuse with β-granules containing hydrolytic enzymes, which digest the perivitelline fluid components.[2] [3] [4] [5]
Origin
The perivitelline fluid is synthesized by the albumen gland of female snails (also known as albumen gland-capsule gland complex or uterine gland), an accessory gland from the reproductive tract. Fertilized oocytes enter the albumen gland and, on their way out, are coated with the perivitelline fluid.[6] [7] The amount of perivitelline fluid per egg vary considerably among species. However, the amount of perivitelline fluid per egg is constant within a given species.[8] In this regard, it has been shown in Pomacea apple snails that during the reproductive season, when the nutrient precursors decrease in the albumen gland due to successive ovipositions, females tend to reduce the number of eggs per clutch but not the amount allocated to each egg.[9]
Composition
The perivitelline fluid contains predominantly galactogen, proteins, and calcium.[10] [11] [12]
Carbohydrate is invariably the most abundant component of the perivitelline fluid. Specifically, the eggs of most gastropod accumulate the polysaccharide galactogen,[13] which would provide the main energy source for the developing embryo. A small amount of soluble glucose was also detected in some species.
Proteins, called perivitellins, are the second most abundant component of the perivitelline fluid. Perivitellins are also a source of nutrients for snail embryos [14] and play a role in protection against pathogens[15] [16] and predators, and include non-digestible perivitellins, toxins and protease inhibitors.[17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] These proteins were thoroughly studied in apple snails from the genus Pomacea, where they were originally grouped in two most abundant protein fractions perivitellin-1 or PV1, perivitellin-2 or PV2 (comprising approximately 70% of total protein), and a heterogeneous fraction dubbed perivitellin-3 or PV3 fraction.[26] [27] Recent proteomic analyses, however, showed that the perivitelline fluid from Pomacea snails has between 34-38 different proteins with a wide variety of functions.[28] [29] [30]
Lipids are a minor component, mostly represented by membrane lipids, indicating that snails do not use lipids as a major energy reserve during reproduction. Apart from structural lipids, some eggs also contain carotenoid pigments, notably astaxanthin. These lipidic pigments have been associated with antioxidant and photoprotective functions,[31] [32] and also provide Pomacea eggs with the typical bright color that would function as a warning signal (i.e. aposematism) to deter predators.[33] [34] [35]
Among the inorganic components, calcium ion is the most abundant in the perivitelline fluid. As these snails have direct development, calcium needs to be stored to allow the snail to develop the shell during organogenesis. Besides, calcium is the main component of the eggshell of those snails with aerial oviposition.[36]
Notes and References
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- Koch E, Winik BC, Castro-Vazquez A . Development beyond the gastrula stage and digestive organogenesis in the apple-snail Pomacea canaliculata (Architaenioglossa, Ampullariidae) . Biocell . 33 . 1 . 49–65 . April 2009 . 10.32604/biocell.2009.33.049 . 19499886 . free .
- Hayes KA, Cowie RH, Thiengo SC, Strong EE . 2012. Comparing apples with apples: clarifying the identities of two highly invasive Neotropical Ampullariidae (Caenogastropoda) . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. en. 166. 4. 723–753. 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2012.00867.x. 1096-3642.
- Catalán M, Dreon MS, Heras H, Pollero RJ, Fernández SN, Winik B . Pallial oviduct of Pomacea canaliculata (Gastropoda): ultrastructural studies of the parenchymal cellular types involved in the metabolism of perivitellins . Cell and Tissue Research . 324 . 3 . 523–33 . June 2006 . 16453107 . 10.1007/s00441-005-0132-x . 30906846 .
- Horstmann HG . 1956 . Der galaktogengehalt der Eier von Lymnaea stagnalis während der embryonalentwicklung. . Biochem. Z. . 328 . 342–347 .
- Cadierno MP, Saveanu L, Dreon MS, Martín PR, Heras H . Biosynthesis in the Albumen Gland-Capsule Gland Complex Limits Reproductive Effort in the Invasive Apple Snail Pomacea canaliculata . The Biological Bulletin . 235 . 1 . 1–11 . August 2018 . 30160995 . 10.1086/699200 . 52135669 . 11336/101954 . free .
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- Giglio ML, Ituarte S, Pasquevich MY, Heras H . 2016-09-12. The eggs of the apple snail Pomacea maculata are defended by indigestible polysaccharides and toxic proteins . Canadian Journal of Zoology. 94. 11. 777–785. 10.1139/cjz-2016-0049 . 1807/74381. free.
- Book: Raven CP . 1972 . Chemical embriology of Mollusca . Chemical Zoology . Florkin M, Scheer BT . Academic Press . New York . 155–185 .
- Book: Kamiya H, Sakai R, Jimbo M . Molluscs . Bioactive Molecules from Sea Hares . 43 . 215–39 . 2006 . 17153345 . 10.1007/978-3-540-30880-5_10 . Springer . 978-3-540-30880-5 . Progress in Molecular and Subcellular Biology . Gavagnin G, Cimino M . Berlin, Heidelberg .
- Ituarte S, Dreon MS, Ceolin M, Heras H . Agglutinating activity and structural characterization of scalarin, the major egg protein of the snail Pomacea scalaris (d'Orbigny, 1832) . PLOS ONE . 7 . 11 . e50115 . 2012-11-20 . 23185551 . 3502340 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0050115 . 2012PLoSO...750115I . free .
- Hathaway JJ, Adema CM, Stout BA, Mobarak CD, Loker ES . Identification of protein components of egg masses indicates parental investment in immunoprotection of offspring by Biomphalaria glabrata (gastropoda, mollusca) . Developmental and Comparative Immunology . 34 . 4 . 425–35 . April 2010 . 19995576 . 10.1016/j.dci.2009.12.001 . 2813990 .
- Dreon MS, Heras H, Pollero RJ . Characterization of the major egg glycolipoproteins from the perivitellin fluid of the apple snail Pomacea canaliculata . Molecular Reproduction and Development . 68 . 3 . 359–64 . July 2004 . 15112330 . 10.1002/mrd.20078 . 22032382 .
- Dreon MS, Frassa MV, Ceolín M, Ituarte S, Qiu JW, Sun J, Fernández PE, Heras H . 6 . Novel animal defenses against predation: a snail egg neurotoxin combining lectin and pore-forming chains that resembles plant defense and bacteria attack toxins . PLOS ONE . 8 . 5 . e63782 . 2013-05-30 . 23737950 . 3667788 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0063782 . 2013PLoSO...863782D . free .
- Dreon MS, Fernández PE, Gimeno EJ, Heras H . Insights into embryo defenses of the invasive apple snail Pomacea canaliculata: egg mass ingestion affects rat intestine morphology and growth . PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases . 8 . 6 . e2961 . June 2014 . 24945629 . 4063725 . 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002961 . free .
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- tuarte S, Brola TR, Dreon MS, Sun J, Qiu JW, Heras H . 2019-02-01. Non-digestible proteins and protease inhibitors: implications for defense of the colored eggs of the freshwater apple snail Pomacea canaliculata . Canadian Journal of Zoology. 97. 6. 558–566. 10.1139/cjz-2018-0210 . 1807/95364. 92566772. free.
- Pasquevich MY, Dreon MS, Qiu JW, Mu H, Heras H . Convergent evolution of plant and animal embryo defences by hyperstable non-digestible storage proteins . Scientific Reports . 7 . 1 . 15848 . November 2017 . 29158565 . 10.1038/s41598-017-16185-9 . 5696525 . 2017NatSR...715848P . 8393065 .
- Giglio ML, Ituarte S, Ibañez AE, Dreon MS, Prieto E, Fernández PE, Heras H . Novel Role for Animal Innate Immune Molecules: Enterotoxic Activity of a Snail Egg MACPF-Toxin . English . Frontiers in Immunology . 11 . 428 . 2020 . 32231667 . 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00428 . 7082926 . 212676110 . free .
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- Pasquevich MY, Dreon MS, Heras H . The major egg reserve protein from the invasive apple snail Pomacea maculata is a complex carotenoprotein related to those of Pomacea canaliculata and Pomacea scalaris . Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part B, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology . 169 . 63–71 . March 2014 . 24291422 . 10.1016/j.cbpb.2013.11.008 . 11336/100510 . free .
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