engleski

Carbonic anhydrase activity and biomineralization process in embryos, larvae and adult blue mussels Mytilus edulis Linnaeus

To decide whether a physiological role can be attributed to enzymatic activity with respect to crystal formation and biomineralization of the first larval shell, carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity was measured in embryos and larvae of the blue mussels Mytilus edulis Linnaeus. Also, CA activity was determined in the mantle edge and gonads of adult mussels with different shell length and condition indices. Intention was to find possible correlation between CA activity and adults shell calcification, i.e., gonadal maturation. The comparison of CA activity in different developmental stages of mussels and results of an X-ray diffraction study of biomineralization processes in embryos and larval shells indicate that CA activity is maximum at the end of several developmental stage. Consequently, the increase of CA activity precedes some physiological change, i.e. the somatoblast 2d formation and occurrence of the first calcite and quartz crystals in embryos, shell field formation in gastrula stage, shell gland and periostracum production in trochophora, and rapid aragonite deposition in larval prodissoconch I and prodissoconch II shell. Futhermore, it was found that in adult mussels CA activity was quite variable and that in the mantle edge frequently inversely related to activity in the gonad.

Mytilus edulis L.; Carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity; Biomineralization process; Shell development; Biomineralization curves

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