Cloning and expression pattern of peroxisomal β-oxidation genes palmitoyl-CoA oxidase, multifunctional protein and 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase in mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and thicklip grey mullet Chelon labrosus

Due to the ability to respond after exposure to organic toxic compounds, peroxisome proliferation is used as biomarker of exposure to organic pollutants in mussels and in fish. Mussels are worldwide studied as sentinels of pollution in marine environments while mullets such as the thicklip grey mullet Chelon labrosus have been proposed as appropriate sentinel species since they inhabit highly polluted environments. In order to study genes of the inducible peroxisomal β-oxidation pathway in mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis and in C. labrosus, genes coding for the three enzymes in the inducible peroxisomal β-oxidation pathway, palmitoyl-CoA oxidase (AOX1), multifunctional protein (MFP1 in mullet and MFP2 in mussels), and 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase (THIO), were cloned. Additionally, a fragment of the peroxisomal Δ2, Δ4 dienoyl-CoA reductase 2 (DECR) necessary for the β-oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids was cloned in mullets. The whole open reading frame of aox1 sequenced in both mussels and mullets revealed high homology with known aox1 sequences, with highly conserved important domains such as the FAD binding motif or the typical peroxisomal targeting signal (PTS1). A thorough in silico analysis of the gene and genome databases allowed to identify in fish and molluscs sequence homologs of all the enzymes necessary for 2 of the 3 different paralog peroxisomal β-oxidation pathways described in metazoans (AOX1, AOX3, MFP1, MFP2, THIO and sterol carrier protein X). Only the enzyme necessary for the oxidation of branched chain fatty acids, AOX2, described in mammalian, avian and amphibian species, seems to be lacking from the genomes of fish and molluscs. In order to study the expression and regulation capacity of peroxisomal β-oxidation genes, aox1 and thio expression was determined in different tissues of mature and immature mullets and mussels collected in January and June, both genes being expressed higher in the digestive gland of mussels collected in June compared to January. Finally, in silico studies of the promoter regions in the piscine genomes available in the Ensembl genome repository, allowed the identification of putative peroxisome proliferator response elements that could explain the possible cellular and molecular mechanisms leading to peroxisome proliferation in fish. Further studies are needed to decipher molecular mechanisms of peroxisome proliferation in aquatic organisms under exposure to peroxisome proliferator xenobiotics.