Characterization of a cDNA encoding a 72 kDa heat shock cognate protein (Hsc72) from the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas

A full-length cDNA encoding a 72 kDa heat shock cognate protein (Hsc72) was isolated from a Crassostrea gigas hemocyte library. This cDNA is 75% ident ical to a human hsc70 cDNA. C. gigas cDNA contains a 659 amino acid open re ading frame encoding a 72 kDa protein which is 87% identical to a human Hsc 70 protein. Northern blotting indicated that even if the hsc72 gene was con stitutively expressed in oyster hemocytes, it could be stimulated by heat s hock in vitro as well as in vivo. Homologies observed both at the cDNA and protein levels, as well as the expression pattern of the hsc72 mRNA, suppor t our conclusion that the isolated cDNA clone corresponds to an oyster heat shock cognate gene.