Identification and expression of cysteine sulfinate decarboxylase, possible regulation of taurine biosynthesis in Crassostrea gigas in response to low salinity

Taurine has been reported high amounts in marine animals to maintain osmotic balance between osmoformers and sea water. Approximately 80% of the total amino-acid content is taurine in Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, an intertidal and euryhaline species. In this study, we cloned the two copies of cysteine sulfinate decarboxylase (CSAD), the key enzyme in taurine biosynthesis pathway, screened in oyster genome data. Sequentially, we compared the expression patterns of CgCSAD1 and CgCSAD2 under low salinity treatment (8‰ and 15‰) using different families from two populations. There was no correlation between the expression of CSAD and the different population. Notably, CgCSAD1 increased significantly in treated groups for 24 h, but CgCSAD2 had no significant differentiation. Moreover, the results of CgCSAD1 interference provided the evidence of the positive correlation between CgCSAD1 expressions and taurine contents. The zinc finger domain showed in multi-alignment results may be the important character of CgCSAD1 as the key enzyme in taurine biosynthesis to regulate taurine pool in response to low salinity. This study provides a new evidence for the important role of taurine in adaptation to low salinity in oyster. In addition, it is a good model to discuss the function and evolution of the duplication in mollusks.