Roche 454 sequencing of the RNA from the mantle tissue of the bivalve Mytilus edulis (the common blue mussel).

We used Roche 454 pyrosequencing to sequence the transcriptome for the mantle tissue of the bivalve Mytilus edulis (the common blue mussel). Total cellular RNA was extracted from the dissected mantle tissue of three specimens of locally sourced M. edulis using RNeasy Micro Kit (QIAGEN) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Then cDNA was synthesised using the Evrogen cDNA synthesis service SMART protocol. Mytilus edulis, has a bimineralic shell composed of approximately equal proportions of the two major polymorphs of calcium carbonate: calcite and aragonite. The exquisite biological control of polymorph production is the focus of research interest in terms of understanding the details of biomineralisation and the proteins involved in the process of complex shell formation. Recent advances in ease and availability of pyrosequencing and assembly have resulted in a sharp increase in transcriptome data for invertebrate biominerals.