The Sox proteins play critical roles during the development of animals, including sex determination and central nervous system development. In this study, the SoxB2 gene was cloned from a mollusk, the Zhikong scallop ...The Sox proteins play critical roles during the development of animals, including sex determination and central nervous system development. In this study, the SoxB2 gene was cloned from a mollusk, the Zhikong scallop (Chlamysfarreri), and characterized with respect to phylogeny and tissue distribution. The full-length cDNA and genomic DNA sequences of C. farreri SoxB2 (CflSoxB2) were obtained by rapid amplification of cDNA ends and genome walking, respectively, using a partial cDNA fragment from the highly conserved DNA-binding domain, i.e., the High Mobility Group (HMG) box. The full-length cDNA sequence of CJSoxB2 was 2 048 bp and encoded 268 amino acids protein. The genomic sequence was 5 551 bp in length with only one exon. Several conserved elements, such as the TATA-box, GC-box, CAAT-box, GATA-box, and Sox/sry-sex/testis-determining and related HMG box factors, were found in the promoter region. Furthermore, real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR assays were carried out to assess the mRNA expression of CJSoxB2 in different tissues. SoxB2 was highly expressed in the mantle, moderately in the digestive gland and gill, and weakly expressed in the gonad, kidney and adductor muscle. In male and female gonads at different developmental stages of reproduction, the expression levels of CfS;oxB2 were similar. Considering the specific expression and roles of SoxB2 in other animals, in particular vertebrates, and the fact that there are many pallial nerves in the mantle, cerebral ganglia in the digestive gland and gill nerves in gill, we propose a possible essential role in nervous tissue function for SoxB2 in C.farreri.展开更多
Most Sox genes directly affect cell fate determination and differentiation. In this study,we isolated two Sox genes:SoxB2 and SoxC from amphioxus (Branchiostoma belcheri),the closest living invertebrate relative of th...Most Sox genes directly affect cell fate determination and differentiation. In this study,we isolated two Sox genes:SoxB2 and SoxC from amphioxus (Branchiostoma belcheri),the closest living invertebrate relative of the vertebrates. Alignments of SoxB2 and SoxC protein sequences and their vertebrate homologs show high conservation of their HMG domains. Phylogenic analysis shows that amphioxus SoxB2 and SoxC fall out of the vertebrate branches,suggesting that vertebrate homologs might arise from gene duplications during evolution. The two genes possess similar spatial and temporal expression patterns during embryogenesis and in adults. They are both maternally inherited. During neurulation,they are expressed in the neural ectoderm and archenterons. In adults,they are expressed not only in the nerve cord,but also in the gut,midgut diverticulum,gill and oocytes. These results suggest that amphioxus SoxB2 and SoxC might co-function and have conserved functions in the nervous system and gonads as their vertebrate homologs.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.31072190,30972239)the National Basic Research Program of China(973 Program)(No.2010CB126406)+2 种基金the Taishan Scholar Program of Shandong Provincethe Doctoral Fund of Ministry of Education of China(No.20100132110014)the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province(No.ZR2009DM019)
文摘The Sox proteins play critical roles during the development of animals, including sex determination and central nervous system development. In this study, the SoxB2 gene was cloned from a mollusk, the Zhikong scallop (Chlamysfarreri), and characterized with respect to phylogeny and tissue distribution. The full-length cDNA and genomic DNA sequences of C. farreri SoxB2 (CflSoxB2) were obtained by rapid amplification of cDNA ends and genome walking, respectively, using a partial cDNA fragment from the highly conserved DNA-binding domain, i.e., the High Mobility Group (HMG) box. The full-length cDNA sequence of CJSoxB2 was 2 048 bp and encoded 268 amino acids protein. The genomic sequence was 5 551 bp in length with only one exon. Several conserved elements, such as the TATA-box, GC-box, CAAT-box, GATA-box, and Sox/sry-sex/testis-determining and related HMG box factors, were found in the promoter region. Furthermore, real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR assays were carried out to assess the mRNA expression of CJSoxB2 in different tissues. SoxB2 was highly expressed in the mantle, moderately in the digestive gland and gill, and weakly expressed in the gonad, kidney and adductor muscle. In male and female gonads at different developmental stages of reproduction, the expression levels of CfS;oxB2 were similar. Considering the specific expression and roles of SoxB2 in other animals, in particular vertebrates, and the fact that there are many pallial nerves in the mantle, cerebral ganglia in the digestive gland and gill nerves in gill, we propose a possible essential role in nervous tissue function for SoxB2 in C.farreri.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 30700434 and 30671072)the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (Grant No. Y2007D20)+1 种基金the Shandong Provincial Scientific Research Foundation for Excellent Young Scientists (Grant No. 2006BS02009)the National Basic Re-search and Development Program of China (Grant Nos. 2007CB815800 and 2007CB947100)
文摘Most Sox genes directly affect cell fate determination and differentiation. In this study,we isolated two Sox genes:SoxB2 and SoxC from amphioxus (Branchiostoma belcheri),the closest living invertebrate relative of the vertebrates. Alignments of SoxB2 and SoxC protein sequences and their vertebrate homologs show high conservation of their HMG domains. Phylogenic analysis shows that amphioxus SoxB2 and SoxC fall out of the vertebrate branches,suggesting that vertebrate homologs might arise from gene duplications during evolution. The two genes possess similar spatial and temporal expression patterns during embryogenesis and in adults. They are both maternally inherited. During neurulation,they are expressed in the neural ectoderm and archenterons. In adults,they are expressed not only in the nerve cord,but also in the gut,midgut diverticulum,gill and oocytes. These results suggest that amphioxus SoxB2 and SoxC might co-function and have conserved functions in the nervous system and gonads as their vertebrate homologs.