Structures of six cDNAs expressed specifically at cypris larvae of barnacles, Balanus amphitrite

We cloned six cDNAs by screening cDNA libraries of cypris larvae from barnacles, Balanus amphitrite, and studied their expression by Northern blot analysis. All of them are expressed in the cypris larvae at the settlement stage, but not in the earlier nauplii larvae nor in later adult barnacles. Therefore, we designated them as barnacle cypris larva-specific genes ( bcs); bcs-1, bcs-2, bcs-3, bcs-4, bcs-5 and bcs-6. During the process of larval attachment and metamorphosis, the amounts of bcs-1 and bcs-2 mRNAs decreased, whereas the bcs-3, bcs-4, bcs-5 and bcs-6 mRNAs increased. A homology search showed that all cDNAs encode novel peptides containing characteristic amino acid sequences. This study strongly suggests that these bcs gene products are involved in the cypris larval attachment and metamorphosis of barnacles.