Expression of self-assembly protein from egg capsules and bundling protein in pugilina cochlidium

Abstract

The Pugilina cochlidium can be found on the sea shores of South-East Asia. The marine snail lays a long string of egg capsules that developing embryos are held inside. The egg capsules must be able to withstand the perils of the harsh marine environment in the ocean and to predation for the marine sail to continue surviving. The egg capsule proteins were found in coiled-coil conformation in the egg capsules which helps the egg capsule capabilities of absorbing shock, where it is able to extend fully and recover almost simultaneously to its original shape when the stress does not exceed the maximum limit. The egg capsules protein that are mainly experimented in this project are Pugilina cochlidium egg capsule protein PcECP-1 and PcECP-2, and presumably the protein cross-linker, the Pugilina cochlidium bundling protein PcBP. The proteins were expressed in E. coli system and Terrific Broth to maximise yield. Bundling Protein is also purified using Reversed Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).