PUBLICATION
Discovery, characterization and expression of a novel zebrafish gene, znfr, important for notochord formation
- Authors
- Xu, Y., Zou, P., Liu, Y., and Deng, F.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-090819-19
- Date
- 2010
- Source
- Molecular biology reports 37(5): 2341-2346 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Keywords
- RACE, Zebrafish, Embryonic development, In situ hybridization, Notochord
- MeSH Terms
-
- Aging/genetics
- Animals
- Cloning, Molecular
- DNA, Complementary/genetics
- Embryo, Nonmammalian/cytology
- Embryo, Nonmammalian/metabolism
- Gene Expression Profiling
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental*
- In Situ Hybridization
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics*
- Nerve Tissue Proteins/metabolism
- Notochord/embryology*
- Notochord/metabolism*
- RNA, Messenger/genetics
- RNA, Messenger/metabolism
- Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Sequence Analysis, DNA
- Zebrafish/embryology*
- Zebrafish/genetics*
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics*
- Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism
- PubMed
- 19688271 Full text @ Mol. Biol. Rep.
Citation
Xu, Y., Zou, P., Liu, Y., and Deng, F. (2010) Discovery, characterization and expression of a novel zebrafish gene, znfr, important for notochord formation. Molecular biology reports. 37(5):2341-2346.
Abstract
Genes specifically expressed in the notochord may be crucial for proper notochord development. Using the digital differential display program offered by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, we identified a novel EST sequence from a zebrafish ovary library (No. XM_701450). The full-length cDNA of this transcript was cloned by performing 3' and 5'-RACE and was further confirmed by PCR and sequencing. The resulting 614 bp gene was found to encode a novel 94 amino acid protein that did not share significant homology with any other known protein. Characterization of the genomic sequence revealed that the gene spanned 4.9 kb and was composed of four exons and three introns. RT-PCR gene expression analysis revealed that our gene of interest was expressed in ovary, kidney, brain, mature oocytes and during the early stages of embryogenesis. During embryonic development, znfr mRNA was found to be expressed in the embryonic shield, chordamesoderm and the vacuolated notochord cells by in situ hybridization. Based on this information, we hypothesize that this novel gene is an important maternal factor required for zebrafish notochord formation during early embryonic development. We have thus named this gene znfr (zebrafish notochord formation related).
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping