Isolation and Expression of a Novel Alligator Gene

Authors: Jifang Zheng Nan Hu Muyuan Zhu Yaqing Nu Zhen Liu

Publish Date: 2009/01/25

Volume: 47, Issue: 1-2, Pages: 137-146

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Abstract

Sox genes share a highly conserved DNAbinding motif the HMG high mobility groupbox domain and have diverse roles in vertebrate embryonic development A novel SRYrelated cDNA temporarily called Sox33 isolated from the Chinese alligator Alligator sinensis is 1819 bp in length with an open reading frame from 220 to 1113 bp encoding a protein of 298 amino acids Two putative polyadenylation signal sequences AATAAA are present upstream of the polyA tail in the 3′ UTR at 1255–1260 and 1774–1779 The putative protein contains an HMGbox domain most closely related to hSox12 mSox4 rtSox11 and mSox11 homologs indicating that alligator Sox33 belongs to group C in the Sox gene family Alligator adult and developing tissues were tested for Sox33 mRNA by independent Northern blots using a 336bp probe at 907–1243 between the HMGbox and the polyA site I and a 277bp probe at 1477–1754 between the two polyadenylation sites Two transcripts 13 kb and 18 kb in developing brain and one 18 kb in adult brain were identified by the 336bp probe only one transcript 18 kb in developing and adult brains was detected by the 277bp probe The results suggest that alligator Sox33 may use a different polyadenylation mechanism in the developing brain and play a role in the development and maintenance of the nervous systemWe would like to acknowledge the staff of the Research Center for Chinese Alligator Reproduction in China for providing the experimental material and the staff of Shanghai Biolink Informatics Inc for expert technical assistance This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province Grant No 04JJ40021 and the Scientific Research Foundation for Doctor in Nanhua University Grant No 503XJQ03044

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