Cloning, characterisation and expression profile of kisspeptin1 and the kisspeptin1 receptor in the hypothalamic–pituitary–ovarian axis of Chinese alligator Alligator sinensis during the reproductive cycle

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruidong Zhang ◽  
Haitao Nie ◽  
Shulong Duan ◽  
Peng Yan ◽  
Ali Izaz ◽  
...  

Kisspeptin1 (Kiss1), a product of the Kiss1 gene, plays an important role in the regulation of reproduction in vertebrates by activating the Kiss1 receptor (Kiss1R) and its coexpression with gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in GnRH neurons. The purpose of this study was to clone the Kiss1 and Kiss1R genes found in the brain of Alligator sinensis and to explore their relationship with reproduction. The full-length cDNA of Kiss1 is 816bp, the open reading frame (ORF) is 417bp and the gene encodes a 138-amino acid precursor protein. The full-length cDNA of Kiss1R is 2348bp, the ORF is 1086bp and the gene encodes a 361-amino acid protein. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction showed that, except for Kiss1R expression in the hypothalamus, the expression of Kiss1 and Kiss1Rduring the reproductive period of A. sinensis was higher than that in the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and ovary during the hibernation period. The changes in GnRH2 mRNA in the hypothalamus were similar to those of GnRH1 and peaked during the reproductive period. This study confirms the existence of Kiss1 and Kiss1R in A. sinensis and the findings strongly suggest that Kiss1 and Kiss1R may participate in the regulation of GnRH secretion in the hypothalamus of alligators during the reproductive period. Furthermore, this is the first report of the full-length cDNA sequences of Kiss1 and Kiss1R in reptiles.

1991 ◽  
Vol 277 (2) ◽  
pp. 469-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Dumas ◽  
M Lebrun ◽  
R Douce

Acetohydroxy acid reductoisomerase (AHRI), the second enzyme in the parallel isoleucine/valine-biosynthetic pathway, catalyses an unusual two-step reaction in which the substrate, either 2-acetolactate or 2-aceto-2-hydroxybutyrate, is converted via an alkyl migration and an NADPH-dependent reduction to give 2,3-dihydroxy-3-methylbutyrate or 2,3-dihydroxy-3-methylvalerate respectively. We have isolated and characterized a full-length cDNA from a lambda gt11 spinach library encoding the complete acetohydroxy acid reductoisomerase protein precursor. The 2050-nucleotide sequence contains a 1785-nucleotide open reading frame. The derived amino acid sequence indicates that the protein precursor consists of 595 amino acid residues including a presequence peptide of 72 amino acid residues. The N-terminal sequence of the first 16 amino acid residues of the purified AHRI confirms the identity of the cDNA. The derived amino acid sequence from this open reading frame shows 23% identity with the deduced amino acid sequences of the Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae AHRI proteins. There are two blocks of conserved amino acid residues in these three proteins. One of these is a sequence similar to the ‘fingerprint’ region of the NAD(P)H-binding site found in a large number of NAD(P)H-dependent oxidoreductases. The other, a short sequence (Lys-Xaa-Xaa-Xaa-Xaa-Xaa-Xaa-Xaa-Ser-His-Gly-Phe) containing the amino acids lysine and histidine, could well be the catalytic site of the first step of the AHRI reaction. Southern-blot analysis indicated that AHRI is encoded by a single gene per haploid genome of about 7.5 kbp containing at least four introns.


2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
YOSHIFUMI FUKUNISHI ◽  
YOSHIHIDE HAYASHIZAKI

Here we present an amino acid translation program designed to suggest the position of experimental frameshift errors and predict amino acid sequences for full-length cDNA sequences having phred scores. Our program generates artificial insertions into artificial deletions from low-accuracy positions of the original sequence, thereby generating many candidate sequences. The validity of the most probable sequence (the likelihood that it represents the actual protein) is evaluated by using a score (Va) that is calculated in light of the Kozak consensus, preferred codon usage, and position of the initiation codon. To evaluate the software, we have used a database in which, out of 612 cDNA sequences, 524 (86%) carried 773 frameshift errors in the coding sequence. Our software detected and corrected 48% of the total frameshift errors in 62% of the total cDNA sequences with frameshift errors. The false positive rate of frameshift correction was 9%, and 91% of the suggested frameshifts were true.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianbo Zheng ◽  
Lina Cai ◽  
Yongyi Jia ◽  
Meili Chi ◽  
Shun Cheng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Crustaceans often exhibit significant sexual dimorphism during their growth process. However, their sex determination system is relatively complex, and still lacks of related studies that involved in sex determination and differentiation.Results: In the present study, the gene of Doublesex (Cqdsx) was identified and characterized for the first time in the redclaw crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus. The full-length cDNA was 1271 bp, comprising a 155 bp 5’-untranslated region (5’-UTR), a 885 bp predicted open reading frame (ORF) encoding 294 amino acid polypeptides, and a 231 bp 3’-UTR. The deduced amino acid sequence of Cqdsx was predicted to contain a highly conserved DM domain and shared nearly 50% identity to DM-peptides from other species. The results of quantitative Real-time PCR in various tissues revealed that Cqdsx was strongly expressed in gonads, while was almost undetectable in gill, heart, hepatopancreas, muscle and intestine. Comparing expression level in different embryonic stages found that Cqdsx was gradually increased with the development of the embryos. In situ hybridization to gonad sections showed that intensive hybridization signals were mainly observed in oocytes and ovarian lamellae and weak signals were detected in spermatocyte. Additional, Cqdsx gene exhibited the higher transcript levels in the early stage of ovarian development. Furthermore, RNAi-targeting Cqdsx silencing induced a decrease of Cq-IAG trascripts, which regulated the male sexual differentiation in crustacean.Conclusion: DM-domain genes play an important role in the sex determination and differentiation among animal kingdom. The full-length cDNA of Cqdsx in C. quadricarinatus was isolated and characterized. Our findings strongly suggests an essential role for Cqdsx in the female ovarian development/differentiation of the redclaw crayfish. These data may provide us a better understanding of sex determination in C. quadricarinatus.


Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 148 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-130
Author(s):  
Huaxian Chen ◽  
John W Crabb ◽  
John A Kinsey

Abstract The expression of the am (glutamate dehydrogenase) gene is dependent upon two upstream activating sequences, designated URSamα and URSamβ. A heteromeric nuclear protein Am  Alpha Binding protein (AAB) binds specifically to a CCAAT box within the URSamα element. AAB appears to be composed of three components. We used polyclonal antiserum raised against the highly purified AAB1 subunit to isolate a partial aab-1 cDNA clone, which was then used to isolate a full-length cDNA and a genomic clone. The full-length cDNA has the potential to encode a 272 amino acid protein with a calculated molecular weight of 30 kD. Amino acid sequence obtained by Edman analysis of the AAB1 protein confirmed that the aab-1 gene had been cloned. AAB-1 shows similarity to the HAP5 protein of yeast and the CBF-C protein of rat. Each of these proteins is an essential subunit of their respective heteromeric CCAAT binding proteins. The aab1 gene maps on linkage group III of Neurospora crassa near the trp-1 locus. Disruption of the aab-1 gene results in pleiotropic effects on growth and development as well as a 50% reduction in glutamate dehydrogenase levels. Transformation of the aab-1 disruption mutant strain with the cloned genomic copy of the aab-1 gene rescued all of the phenotypic alterations associated with the aab-1 mutation.


1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 2684-2696
Author(s):  
D H Smith ◽  
D M Kegler ◽  
E B Ziff

We transiently expressed adenovirus type C E1a proteins in wild-type or mutant form from plasmid vectors which have different combinations of E1a and simian virus 40 enhancer elements and which contain the DNA replication origin of SV40 and can replicate in COS 7 cells. We measured the levels of E1a mRNA encoded by the vectors and the transition regulation properties of the protein products. Three vectors encoded equivalent levels of E1a mRNA in COS 7 cells: (i) a plasmid encoding the wt 289-amino acid E1a protein (this complemented the E1a deletion mutant dl312 for early region E2a expression under both replicative and nonreplicative conditions); (ii) a vector for the wt 243-amino acid E1a protein (this complemented dl312 weakly and only under conditions of high multiplicities of dl312); (iii) a mutant, pSVXL105, in which amino acid residues-38 through 44 of the 289-amino acid E1a protein (which includes two highly conserved residues) are replaced by 3 novel amino acids (this also complemented dl312 efficiently). A fourth vector, mutant pSVXL3 with which linker substitution shifts the reading frame to encode a truncated 70-amino acid fragment from the amino terminus of the 289-amino acid protein, was unable to complement dl312. Surprisingly, pSVXL3 overexpressed E1a mRNA approximately 30-fold in COS 7 cells in comparison with the other vectors. The pSVXL3 overexpression could be reversed by cotransfection with a wt E1a vector. We suggest that wt E1a proteins regulate the levels of their own mRNAs through the recently described transcription repression functions of the 289- and 243-amino acid E1a protein products and that pSVXL3 fails to autoregulate negatively.


1994 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 1301-1310 ◽  
Author(s):  
S W Clark ◽  
O Staub ◽  
I B Clark ◽  
E L Holzbaur ◽  
B M Paschal ◽  
...  

An examination of human-expressed sequence tags indicated the existence of an isoform of centractin, an actin-related protein localized to microtubule-associated structures. Using one of these tags, we isolated and determined the nucleotide sequence of a full-length cDNA clone. The protein encoded represents the first example of multiple isoforms of an actin-related protein in a single organism. Northern analysis using centractin-specific probes revealed three species of mRNA in HeLa cells that could encode centractin isoforms. One mRNA encodes the previously-identified centractin (now referred to as alpha-centractin). The full-length cDNA clone isolated using the expressed sequence tag encodes a new member of the centractin family, beta-centractin. A probe specific for alpha-centractin hybridized to the third species of mRNA observed (referred to as gamma-centractin). Comparisons of Northern blots of human tissues indicated that alpha-centractin and beta-centractin mRNAs are equally distributed in all populations of mRNA examined, whereas the expression of gamma-centractin appears to be tissue specific. The amino acid sequence of beta-centractin, deduced from the cDNA, indicates a 91% identity with alpha-centractin, increasing to 96% similarity when conservative amino acid changes are taken into account. As antibodies previously raised against alpha-centractin reacted only poorly with beta-centractin, new antibodies were produced and combined with two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to discriminate the two isoforms. Using this system, the subcellular distribution of the alpha- and beta-isoforms were determined. Both isoforms were found predominantly in the cytosolic fraction as a part of a previously identified 20S complex (referred to as the dynactin complex) with no evidence for a free pool of either isoform. The isoforms were found in a constant ratio of approximately 15:1 (alpha:beta) in the dynactin complex.


Blood ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
pp. 1435-1442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward M. Conway ◽  
Saskia Pollefeyt ◽  
Jan Cornelissen ◽  
Inky DeBaere ◽  
Marta Steiner-Mosonyi ◽  
...  

Survivin is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family that is believed to play a role in oncogenesis. To elucidate further its physiologic role(s), we have characterized the murinesurvivin gene and complementary DNA (cDNA). The structural organization of the survivin gene, located on chromosome 11E2, is similar to that of its human counterpart, both containing 4 exons. Surprisingly, 3 full-length murine survivin cDNA clones were isolated, predicting the existence of 3 distinct survivin proteins. The longest open reading frame, derived from all 4 exons, predicts a 140-amino acid residue protein, survivin140, similar to human survivin, which contains a single IAP repeat and a COOH-terminal coiled-coil domain that links its function to the cell cycle. A second cDNA, which retains intron 3, predicts the existence of a 121-amino acid protein, survivin121 that lacks the coiled-coil domain. Removal of exon 2-derived sequences by alternative pre-messenger RNA (mRNA) splicing results in a third 40-amino acid residue protein, survivin40, lacking the IAP repeat and coiled-coil structure. Predictably, only recombinant survivin140 and survivin121 inhibited caspase-3 activity. All 3 mRNA species were variably expressed during development from 7.5 days postcoitum. Of the adult tissues surveyed, thymus and testis accumulated high levels of survivin140 mRNA, whereas survivin121-specific transcripts were detected in all tissues, while those representing survivin40 were absent. Human counterparts to the 3 survivin mRNA transcripts were identified in a study of human cells and tissues. The presence of distinct isoforms of survivin that are expressed differentially suggests that survivin plays a complex role in regulating apoptosis.


2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhihua Liao ◽  
Qiumin Tan ◽  
Yourong Chai ◽  
Kaijing Zuo ◽  
Min Chen ◽  
...  

In plants, the first committed step in the pathway for biosynthesis of isoprenoids is catalysed by 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR, EC: 1.1.1.34). Here we report for the first time the cloning of a full-length cDNA encoding HMGR (Tm–HMGR) from a taxol-producing gymnosperm, Taxus media Rehder. The full-length cDNA of Tm–HMGR (GenBank accession number: AY277740) was 2307 base pairs (bp), with a 1791-bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 596-amino-acid polypeptide. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that Tm–HMGR contained two trans-membrane domains and a catalytic domain, and showed high homology to other plant HMGRs. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that Tm–HMGR was more ancient than other plant HMGRs. The structural modelling showed that Tm–HMGR had the typical spatial structure of HMGRs whose catalytic domains could be folded and divided into three spatial domains, L-domain, N-domain and S-domain. Southern blot analysis revealed that Tm–HMGR belonged to a small HMGR gene family. Northern blot analysis showed that Tm–HMGR was expressed in roots, stems and needles, with higher expression in stems and needles than in roots. Functional complementation of Tm–HMGR in a HMGR-deficient mutant yeast demonstrated that Tm–HMGR mediated the biosynthesis of mevalonate and provided the general precursor for taxol biosynthesis.


1999 ◽  
Vol 65 (12) ◽  
pp. 5546-5553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Iwashita ◽  
Tatsuya Nagahara ◽  
Hitoshi Kimura ◽  
Makoto Takano ◽  
Hitoshi Shimoi ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We cloned the genomic DNA and cDNA of bglA, which encodes β-glucosidase in Aspergillus kawachii, based on a partial amino acid sequence of purified cell wall-bound β-glucosidase CB-1. The nucleotide sequence of the cloned bglA gene revealed a 2,933-bp open reading frame with six introns that encodes an 860-amino-acid protein. Based on the deduced amino acid sequence, we concluded that the bglA gene encodes cell wall-bound β-glucosidase CB-1. The amino acid sequence exhibited high levels of homology with the amino acid sequences of fungal β-glucosidases classified in subfamily B. We expressed the bglA cDNA inSaccharomyces cerevisiae and detected the recombinant β-glucosidase in the periplasm fraction of the recombinant yeast.A. kawachii can produce two extracellular β-glucosidases (EX-1 and EX-2) in addition to the cell wall-bound β-glucosidase.A. kawachii in which the bglA gene was disrupted produced none of the three β-glucosidases, as determined by enzyme assays and a Western blot analysis. Thus, we concluded that thebglA gene encodes both extracellular and cell wall-bound β-glucosidases in A. kawachii.


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