AbstractWe report the results of a small-scale expressed sequence tag project performed on the ectoparasitic nematode Xiphinema index. Approximately 1400 genes were sequenced, 70% from a cDNA library generated from dissected basal bulbs (containing the pharyngeal gland cells) and 30% from cDNA libraries generated from whole mixed stage nematodes. A large portion of the bulb library (48%) was composed of proteins with no matches in the database. Further analysis of these genes revealed that a total of 51 contigs were present, half of which encoded novel secreted proteins. By contrast, the whole nematode library contained more housekeeping and nematode-specific genes. Only one of the novel genes from the whole nematode library had a predicted signal peptide at the N-terminus. Genes encoding transthyretin-like proteins were abundant in the bulb library and in situ hybridisation confirmed that one of these is expressed in the basal bulb. Genes encoding a variety of proteases, which were shown using in situ hybridisation to be expressed in the gut, were also identified.
EXPRESSED SEQUENCE TAG ANALYSIS OF GENES EXPRESSED DURING DEVELOPMENT OF THE TROPICAL ABALONE HALIOTIS ASININA
