Molecular cloning of the defense factor in the albumen gland of the sea hare Aplysia kurodai

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Abstract
Aplysianin‐A, an antibacterial glycoprotein in the albumen gland of the sea hare Aplysia kurodai, inhibited the growth of both Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria. Aplysianin‐A cDNA clones were isolated from an albumen gland cDNA library. Sequence analysis reveals that aplysianin‐A is produced as a precursor protein of 556 amino acid residues with a signal peptide of 19 amino acid residues and contains 6 potential N‐glycosylation sites. Aplysianin‐A mRNA was expressed tissue‐specifically in the albumen gland. Homology search reveals that aplysianin‐A has a 50% overall amino acid sequence homology to achacin, an antibacterial glycoprotein of the giant African snail Achatina fulica.