Identification and expression of forkhead box genes in the Chinese giant salamander Andrias davidianus

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiaomu Hu ◽  
Hanbing Xiao ◽  
Qilong Wang ◽  
Haifeng Tian ◽  
Yan Meng

In the present study, 21 forkhead box (Fox) genes were identified in Andrias davidianus, including 13 full-length genes and eight partial sequences. Phylogenetic analysis showed that most were conserved in other investigated amphibians, whereas the Foxk1 gene was found exclusively in A. davidianus. Molecular evolution analysis indicated that most Fox genes underwent purifying selection, whereas two sites of the adFoxp4 gene showed positive selection and were located on the adFoxp4 protein surface. Expression profiles of all Fox genes identified were analysed in the hypothalamic–pituitary–gonad axis by reverse transcription–quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Eighteen genes exhibited sexually dimorphic expression (15 ovary-biased and three testis-biased genes), whereas two genes showed no difference between ovary and testis. Further investigation of 12 selected sexually dimorphic Fox genes showed changes in the expression profile of 11 genes in the ovary of larvae reared at high temperatures (28°C). The results of the present study provide information on Fox genes in an amphibian and suggest that they play key roles in sexual development and reproduction in A. davidianus.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Müller ◽  
Sonja Grath ◽  
Korbinian von Heckel ◽  
John Parsch

Genes with sexually dimorphic expression (sex-biased genes) often evolve rapidly and are thought to make an important contribution to reproductive isolation between species. We examined the molecular evolution of sex-biased genes in Drosophila melanogaster and D. ananassae, which represent two independent lineages within the melanogaster group. We find that strong purifying selection limits protein sequence variation within species, but that a considerable fraction of divergence between species can be attributed to positive selection. In D. melanogaster, the proportion of adaptive substitutions between species is greatest for male-biased genes and is especially high for those on the X chromosome. In contrast, male-biased genes do not show unusually high variation within or between populations. A similar pattern is seen at the level of gene expression, where sex-biased genes show high expression divergence between species, but low divergence between populations. In D. ananassae, there is no increased rate of adaptation of male-biased genes, suggesting that the type or strength of selection acting on sex-biased genes differs between lineages.


Reproduction ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 154 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Chen ◽  
Jian Du ◽  
Lin Ma ◽  
Li-qing Wang ◽  
Sheng-song Xie ◽  
...  

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are 18–24 nucleotides non-coding RNAs that regulate gene expression by post-transcriptional suppression of mRNA. The Chinese giant salamander (CGS, Andrias davidianus), which is an endangered species, has become one of the important models of animal evolution; however, no miRNA studies on this species have been conducted. In this study, two small RNA libraries of CGS ovary and testis were constructed using deep sequencing technology. A bioinformatics pipeline was developed to distinguish miRNA sequences from other classes of small RNAs represented in the sequencing data. We found that many miRNAs and other small RNAs such as piRNA and tsRNA were abundant in CGS tissue. A total of 757 and 756 unique miRNAs were annotated as miRNA candidates in the ovary and testis respectively. We identified 145 miRNAs in CGS ovary and 155 miRNAs in CGS testis that were homologous to those in Xenopus laevis ovary and testis respectively. Forty-five miRNAs were more highly expressed in ovary than in testis and 21 miRNAs were more highly expressed in testis than in ovary. The expression profiles of the selected miRNAs (miR-451, miR-10c, miR-101, miR-202, miR-7a and miR-499) had their own different roles in other eight tissues and different development stages of testis and ovary, suggesting that these miRNAs play vital regulatory roles in sexual differentiation, gametogenesis and development in CGS. To our knowledge, this is the first study to reveal miRNA profiles that are related to male and female CGS gonads and provide insights into sex differences in miRNA expression in CGS.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (24) ◽  
pp. 6149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiqun Li ◽  
Nan Jiang ◽  
Yuding Fan ◽  
Yong Zhou ◽  
Wenzhi Liu ◽  
...  

Chinese giant salamander iridovirus (GSIV) is the causative pathogen of Chinese giant salamander (Andrias davidianus) iridovirosis, leading to severe infectious disease and huge economic losses. However, the infection mechanism by GSIV is far from clear. In this study, a Chinese giant salamander muscle (GSM) cell line is used to investigate the mechanism of cell death during GSIV infection. Microscopy observation and DNA ladder analysis revealed that DNA fragmentation happens during GSIV infection. Flow cytometry analysis showed that apoptotic cells in GSIV-infected cells were significantly higher than that in control cells. Caspase 8, 9, and 3 were activated in GSIV-infected cells compared with the uninfected cells. Consistently, mitochondria membrane potential (MMP) was significantly reduced, and cytochrome c was released into cytosol during GSIV infection. p53 expression increased at an early stage of GSIV infection and then slightly decreased late in infection. Furthermore, mRNA expression levels of pro-apoptotic genes participating in the extrinsic and intrinsic pathway were significantly up-regulated during GSIV infection, while those of anti-apoptotic genes were restrained in early infection and then rose in late infection. These results collectively indicate that GSIV induces GSM apoptotic cell death involving mitochondrial damage, caspases activation, p53 expression, and pro-apoptotic molecules up-regulation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Junpei Yamashita ◽  
Yuji Nishiike ◽  
Thomas Fleming ◽  
Daichi Kayo ◽  
Kataaki Okubo

AbstractThe preoptic area (POA) is one of the most evolutionarily conserved regions of the vertebrate brain and contains subsets of neuropeptide-expressing neurons. Here we found in the teleost medaka that two neuropeptides belonging to the secretin family, pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (Pacap) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (Vip), exhibit opposite patterns of sexually dimorphic expression in the same population of POA neurons that project to the anterior pituitary: Pacap is male-biased, whereas Vip is female-biased. Estrogen secreted by the ovary in adulthood was found to attenuate Pacap expression and, conversely, stimulate Vip expression in the female POA, thereby establishing and maintaining their opposite sexual dimorphism. Pituitary organ culture experiments demonstrated that both Pacap and Vip can markedly alter the expression of various anterior pituitary hormones. Collectively, these findings show that males and females use alternative preoptic neuropeptides to regulate anterior pituitary hormones as a result of their different estrogen milieu.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (12) ◽  
pp. 6556
Author(s):  
Junjun Huang ◽  
Xiaoyu Li ◽  
Xin Chen ◽  
Yaru Guo ◽  
Weihong Liang ◽  
...  

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins are a gene super-family in plants and play vital roles in growth, development, and response to abiotic and biotic stresses. The ABC transporters have been identified in crop plants such as rice and buckwheat, but little is known about them in soybean. Soybean is an important oil crop and is one of the five major crops in the world. In this study, 255 ABC genes that putatively encode ABC transporters were identified from soybean through bioinformatics and then categorized into eight subfamilies, including 7 ABCAs, 52 ABCBs, 48 ABCCs, 5 ABCDs, 1 ABCEs, 10 ABCFs, 111 ABCGs, and 21 ABCIs. Their phylogenetic relationships, gene structure, and gene expression profiles were characterized. Segmental duplication was the main reason for the expansion of the GmABC genes. Ka/Ks analysis suggested that intense purifying selection was accompanied by the evolution of GmABC genes. The genome-wide collinearity of soybean with other species showed that GmABCs were relatively conserved and that collinear ABCs between species may have originated from the same ancestor. Gene expression analysis of GmABCs revealed the distinct expression pattern in different tissues and diverse developmental stages. The candidate genes GmABCB23, GmABCB25, GmABCB48, GmABCB52, GmABCI1, GmABCI5, and GmABCI13 were responsive to Al toxicity. This work on the GmABC gene family provides useful information for future studies on ABC transporters in soybean and potential targets for the cultivation of new germplasm resources of aluminum-tolerant soybean.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 2613-2623
Author(s):  
Zhanfu Li ◽  
Xiaochuan Chen ◽  
Yongjun Chen ◽  
Weilong Li ◽  
Qifeng Feng ◽  
...  

Blood ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 116 (15) ◽  
pp. e66-e73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Wen Ni ◽  
Haiwei Qiu ◽  
Amir Rezvan ◽  
Kihwan Kwon ◽  
Douglas Nam ◽  
...  

Abstract Recently, we showed that disturbed flow caused by a partial ligation of mouse carotid artery rapidly induces atherosclerosis. Here, we identified mechanosensitive genes in vivo through a genome-wide microarray study using mouse endothelial RNAs isolated from the flow-disturbed left and the undisturbed right common carotid artery. We found 62 and 523 genes that changed significantly by 12 hours and 48 hours after ligation, respectively. The results were validated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction for 44 of 46 tested genes. This array study discovered numerous novel mechanosensitive genes, including Lmo4, klk10, and dhh, while confirming well-known ones, such as Klf2, eNOS, and BMP4. Four genes were further validated for protein, including LMO4, which showed higher expression in mouse aortic arch and in human coronary endothelium in an asymmetric pattern. Comparison of in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro endothelial gene expression profiles indicates that numerous in vivo mechanosensitive genes appear to be lost or dysregulated during culture. Gene ontology analyses show that disturbed flow regulates genes involved in cell proliferation and morphology by 12 hours, followed by inflammatory and immune responses by 48 hours. Determining the functional importance of these novel mechanosensitive genes may provide important insights into understanding vascular biology and atherosclerosis.


2012 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 916-928 ◽  
Author(s):  
BERTALAN MESKO ◽  
SZILARD POLISKA ◽  
SZILVIA SZAMOSI ◽  
ZOLTAN SZEKANECZ ◽  
JANOS PODANI ◽  
...  

Objective.Tocilizumab, a humanized anti-interleukin-6 receptor monoclonal antibody, has recently been approved as a biological therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other diseases. It is not known if there are characteristic changes in gene expression and immunoglobulin G glycosylation during therapy or in response to treatment.Methods.Global gene expression profiles from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 13 patients with RA and active disease at Week 0 (baseline) and Week 4 following treatment were obtained together with clinical measures, serum cytokine levels using ELISA, and the degree of galactosylation of the IgG N-glycan chains. Gene sets separating responders and nonresponders were tested using canonical variates analysis. This approach also revealed important gene groups and pathways that differentiate responders from nonresponders.Results.Fifty-nine genes showed significant differences between baseline and Week 4 and thus correlated with treatment. Significantly, 4 genes determined responders after correction for multiple testing. Ten of the 12 genes with the most significant changes were validated using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. An increase in the terminal galactose content of N-linked glycans of IgG was observed in responders versus nonresponders, as well as in treated samples versus samples obtained at baseline.Conclusion.As a preliminary report, gene expression changes as a result of tocilizumab therapy in RA were examined, and gene sets discriminating between responders and nonresponders were found and validated. A significant increase in the degree of galactosylation of IgG N-glycans in patients with RA treated with tocilizumab was documented.


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