Identification of two small heat shock proteins with different response profile to cadmium and pathogen stresses in Venerupis philippinarum

Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) encompass a widespread and diverse class of proteins with molecular chaperone activity. In the present study, two sHSP isoforms (VpsHSP-1 and VpsHSP-2) were cloned from Venerupis philippinarum haemocytes by Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends (RACE) approaches. The expression profiles of these two genes under Vibrio anguillarum challenge and cadmium exposure were investigated by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. The bacterial challenge could significantly up-regulate the mRNA expression of both VpsHSP-1 and VpsHSP-2, with the increase of VpsHSP-2 expression occurred earlier than that of VpsHSP-1. During the cadmium exposure experiment, the expression level of both VpsHSP-1 and VpsHSP-2 decreased significantly with larger amplitude in VpsHSP-2. As time progressed, the expression levels of both genes were up-regulated with more increment in the low-chemical exposure groups. The differences in the response to pathogen stimulation and cadmium exposure indicated that there were functional diversity between the two structurally different molecules, VpsHSP-1 and VpsHSP-2, and they probably played distinct roles in mediating the environmental stress and immune responses in calm