Verification and tissue-specific expression of nifU-like gene from the amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri

A nifU-like gene exhibiting similarity to nifU of nitrogen fixation gene cluster was identified for the first time from the gut cDNA library of amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri. Both RT-PCR and Northern blotting as well as in situ hybridization histochemistry verified that the cDNA represents an amphioxus nifU-like gene rather than a microbial contaminant. The nifU-like gene encodes a protein of 164 amino acid residues including a highly conserved U-type motif (C-X26-C-X43-C), and shares 66-86% identity to NifU-like proteins from a variety of species including vertebrates, invertebrates and microbes. It is expressed in a tissue-specific manner in the digestive system including epipharyngeal groove, endostyle, hepatic caecum and hind-gut and in the gill, ovary and testis. Taken together, it is highly likely that NifU-like protein plays some tissue-dependent and critical role in amphioxus.     

A modular domain of NifU,a nitrogen fixation cluster protein,is highly conserved in evolution

HnifU, a gene exhibiting similarity tonifU genes of nitrogen fixation gene clusters, was identified in the course of expressed sequence tag (EST) generation from a human fetal heart cDNA library. Northern blot of human tissues and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using human genomic DNA verified that the hnifU gene represented a human gene rather than a microbial contaminant of the cDNA library. Conceptual translation of the hnifU cDNA yielded a protein product bearing 77% and 70% amino acid identity to NifU-like hypothetical proteins fromHaemophilus influenzae andSaccharomyces cerevisiae, respectively, and 40–44% identity to the N-terminal regions of NifU proteins from several diazatrophs (i.e., nitrogen-fixing organisms). Pairwise determination of amino acid identities between the NifU-like proteins of nondiazatrophs showed that these NifU-like proteins exhibited higher sequence identity to each other (63–77%) than to the diazatrophic NifU proteins (40–48%). Further, the NifU-like proteins of non-nitrogenfixing organisms were similar only to the N-terminal region of diazatrophic NifU proteins and therefore identified a novel modular domain in these NifU proteins. These findings support the hypothesis that NifU is indeed a modular protein. The high degree of sequence similarity between NifU-like proteins from species as divergent as humans andH. influenzae suggests that these proteins perform some basic cellular function and may be among the most highly conserved proteins. Correspondence to: C.-C. Liew     

文昌鱼sfy1基因的克隆及其在早期发育中的表达

文昌鱼是公认现存最接近于脊椎动物的一种头索动物,具有与脊椎动物相似但简单得多的身体图式[1],因而是研究脊椎动物发育机制起源和进化的宝贵材料,也是发育生物学的经典实验模型之一.近年来,人们在对果蝇和脊椎动物发育分子机制的研究取得了一系列重大突破之后,利用发育调控基     

青岛文昌鱼过氧化氢酶基因的克隆及生物信息学分析

过氧化氢酶(catalase,CAT)是一类广泛存在于动物、植物和微生物体内的末端氧化酶,是生物体内抗氧化酶体系的重要成员,因此本研究旨在克隆文昌鱼CAT基因并对其进行生物信息学分析。本研究以青岛文昌鱼(Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense)为材料,用RACE技术首次克隆了其CAT全长cDNA的基因序列,命名为AmphiCAT(GenBank登录号:KU058636);该序列总长为2640 bp,开放阅读框(open reading frame,ORF)为1533 bp,编码510个氨基酸,含有一个长为19个氨基酸序列的潜在活性位点和一个长为9个氨基酸序列的血红素配体信号,总分子量在线预测约为57.85 kD;经生物软件分析确定该蛋白质无信号肽序列,预测该蛋白质为非分泌性蛋白,属于单功能CAT的clade3分支;该基因的分子进化树表明青岛文昌鱼CAT同软体动物的亲缘关系较近。     

Identification and characterisation of a homolog of an activation gene for the recombination activating gene 1 (RAG 1) in amphioxus

Expression of recombination activating genes (RAG) involved in the V (D) J recombination is regulated by the RAG1 gene activator (RGA) in mammals. The sequence of a cDNA clone from an amphioxus cDNA library was found to be homologous to that of RGA from mouse stromal cells with 45% identity. The full-length cDNA sequence comprises 1119 bp and encodes a putative protein of 210 amino acid residues. Characterisation of the amino acid sequence revealed that two MtN3 domains and seven transmembrane spans are present in this protein, indicating a potential role as a plasma membrane protein. This gene is expressed in many tissues and at differential developmental stages. A high expression level of RGA is detected in gonad tissues, and gastrula embryo and adult stages. The presence of the RGA gene in amphioxus suggests that the signal pathway required for the expression of RAG could exist in this primitive protochordate. It also implies that in the related molecules, primitive adaptive immunity may have existed in cephalochordate although the complete machinery of VDJ rearrangement may not be formed.     

Characterization and expression profile of AmphiCD63 encoding a novel member of TM4SF proteins from amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense.

The study on CD antigen genes remains lacking in the cephalochordate amphioxus to date. In this report, the cDNA encoding CD63 was identified for the first time from the gut cDNA library of amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense. Primary structural examination showed that the protein encoded by the cDNA contained four potential transmembrane domains characteristic of transmembrane 4 superfamily (TM4SF) proteins and a conserved CCG motif in the putative major extracellular loop. BLAST search revealed that the cDNA is closely associated with other known CD63 antigen genes, and it was thus designated AmphiCD63. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that AmphiCD63 is extremely close to vertebrate CD63, CD151 and CD53, suggesting they may have been evolved from a common ancestral gene. RT-PCR analysis exhibited that AmphiCD63 mRNA was abundant in muscle, ovary, foregut including hepatic caecum and hindgut, while it was present at considerably lower levels in notochord and gill and absent in testis.     

Characterization and tissue-specific expression of phosphatidylcholine transfer protein gene from amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri

An amphioxus cDNA, encoding phosphatidylcholine transfer protein (AmphiPCTP), was identified for the first time from the gut cDNA library of Branchiostoma belcheri. It contains a 660-bp open reading frame corresponding to a deduced protein of 219 amino acids. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that AmphiPCTP clustered with PCTP subgroup of PCTP subfamily containing steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR)-related lipid transfer (START) domains. AmphiPCTP had an exon-intron organization similar to that of human and rat PCTP genes in terms of both exon number and sequence homology of each exon, suggesting that PCTP has probably maintained a similar function in both amphioxus and mammalian species. Both in situ hybridization histochemistry and whole-mount in situ hybridization revealed a tissue-specific expression pattern of AmphiPCTP with the high levels in the hepatic caecum and primitive gut, including the region where the hepatic caecum will form later during development. This apparently agrees with the hypothesis that amphioxus hepatic caecum is equivalent to vertebrate liver. These results suggest a conserved role of PCTPs in amphioxus as well as mammalian species. This work was supported by National Science Foundation of China (NSFC; 30470203) and Ministry of Education of China (200404023014).     

Cloning, expression, purification, and characterization of AmphiTip30, a member of short-chain dehydrogenases/reductases family from the amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense

In this paper we describe the cloning, expression and identification study of the TIP30 gene from amphioxus (Branchiostoma belcheri). The amphioxus TIP30 cDNA is comprised of 1499 bp and is translated in one open-reading frame to give a protein of 237 amino acids, with a predicted 23 amino acids signal peptide, a 147 bp 5'-UTR and a 638 bp 3'-UTR. A multiple alignment of TIP30 from amphioxus with other known TIP30 sequences shows the conservation of most amino acid residues involved in the peculiar structural domains found within TIP30's. Phylogenetic analysis places AmphiTIP30 at the base of the phylogenetic tree, suggesting that AmphiTIP30 is the archetype of the vertebrate TIP30 genes. We express the amphioxus TIP30 gene in Escherichia coli. driven by T7 promoter. The recombinant amphioxus TIP30 protein was purified by HisTrap affinity column. Subsequently, the binding constant and enzyme activity was mensurated. Western blot and immunohistochemistry analysis confirmed that amphioxus has a native molecular mass of approximately 26 kDa, and TIP30 was strongly expressed in ovary. Finally, the initial function of TIP30 is discussed.     

Ribosomal proteins L34 and S29 of amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense: cDNAs cloning and gene copy number

The complete cDNA and deduced amino-acid sequences of ribosomal proteins L34 (AmphiL34) and S29 (AmphiS29) from the amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense were identified in this study. The AmphiL34 cDNA is 435 nucleotides in length and encodes a 118 amino-acid protein with calculated molecular mass of 13.6 kDa. It shares 53.6-67.5% amino-acid sequence identity with its eukaryotic counterparts including human, mouse, rat, pig, frog, catfish, fruit fly, mosquito, armyworm, nematode and yeast. The AmphiS29 cDNA comprises 453 nucleotides and codes for a 56 amino-acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 6.6 kDa. It shows 66.1-78.6% amino-acid sequence identity to eukaryotic S29 proteins from human, mouse, rat, pig, zebrafish, seahorse, fruit fly, nematode, sea hare and yeast. AmphiL34 contains a putative nucleolar localization signal, while AmphiS29 has a zinc finger-like domain. A phylogenetic tree deduced from the conserved sequences of AmphiL34 and AmphiS29 and other known counterparts indicates that the positions of AmphiL34/AmphiS29 are intermediate between the vertebrate and invertebrate L34/S29. Southern blot analysis demonstrates the presence of one copy of the L34 gene and 2-3 copies of the S29 gene in the genome of the amphioxus B. belcheri tsingtauense. This is in sharp contrast to the existence of 7-9 copies of the L34 gene and 14-17 copies of the S29 gene in the rat genome. These date suggest that housekeeping genes like AmphiL34 and AmphiS29 have undergone large-scale duplication in the chordate lineage.     

Amphioxus type I keratin cDNA and the evolution of intermediate filament genes.

We report the cloning of an intermediate filament (IF) cDNA from the cephalochordate amphioxus that encodes a protein assignable to the type I keratin group. This is the first type I keratin reported from an invertebrate. Molecular phylogenetic analyses reveal that amphioxus also possesses a type II keratin, and that the genes encoding short-rod IF proteins underwent different patterns of duplication in vertebrates and their closest relatives, the cephalochordates. Extensive IF gene duplication and divergence may have facilitated the origin of new specialised cell types in vertebrates.     

Identification and expression of amphioxus beta-microseminoprotein (MSP)-like gene encoding an ancient and rapidly evolving protein in chordates

The cDNA encoding beta-microseminoprotein-like (beta-MSPL) was identified from the gut cDNA library of amphioxus. It contains a 336 bp open reading frame corresponding to a deduced protein of 111 amino acids and has eight cysteines conserved and located at the same positions as those in the vertebrate beta-MSPs. At amino acid level, it shares 12-20% similarity to the vertebrate beta-MSPs, and seems lacking the signal peptide at the N-terminus. This not only confirms that beta-MSP is a rapidly evolving protein during phylogeny, but also provides further data on the degree of diversity between species of this protein. RT-PCR and Northern blotting show that amphioxus beta-MSPL is expressed in all tissues examined, suggesting that beta-MSPL plays a fundamental role. However, in situ hybridization reveals that positive hybridization signals were present in all blastomeres of the embryos from 4-cell to gastrula stages, while its expression is restricted exclusively to notochord, somites and primitive gut in neurulae and larvae, and disappears in the ectoderm including the neural tube differentiated from the ectoderm. This suggests that beta-MSPL is possibly involved in the differentiation of ectoderm during embryonic development of cephalochordate amphioxus though it is ubiquitously expressed in embryos prior to gastrula stage and in the adult animal.     

Identification and characterization of complement factor H in Branchiostoma belcheri

Complement factor H (CFH) is an essential regulator of the complement system and plays very important roles in animal innate immunity. Although the complement system of amphioxus has been extensively studied, the expression in amphioxus and evolution of CFH gene remain unknown. In this study, we identified and characterized an amphioxus (Branchiostoma belcheri) CFH gene (designated as AmphiCFH). Our results showed that the full-length cDNA of AmphiCFH gene consists of 1295 bp nucleotides containing an 855 bp open reading frame (ORF) that was predicted to encode a 284 amino acid protein. The putative AmphiCFH protein possessed the characteristic of the CFH protein family, including typical CCP (complement control protein) domain. Real-time PCR analysis showed that the AmphiCFH was ubiquitously and differentially expressed in five investigated tissues (intestine, gills, notochord, muscles, and hepatic cecum). The expression level of the AmphiCFH gene was induced upon lipopolysaccharide stimulation, indicating that the AmphiCFH gene might be involved in innate immunity. In addition, phylogenetic analysis showed that the AmphiCFH gene was located between that of invertebrates and vertebrates, suggesting that the AmphiCFH gene is a member of the CFH gene family. In conclusion, our findings provided an insight into animal innate immunity and evolution of the CFH gene family.     

Ribosomal Protein Genes S23 and L35 from Amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense： Identification and Copy Number

The complete cDNA and deduced amino acid sequences of the ribosomal proteins S23 （AmphiS23） and L35 （AmphiL35） from amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense were identified in this study. AmphiS23 cDNA is 546 bp long and encodes a protein of 143 amino acids. It has a predicted molecular mass of 15,851 Da and a pI of 10.7. AmphiL35 cDNA comprises 473 bp, and codes for a protein of 123 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 14,543 Da and a pI of 10.8. AmphiS23 shares more than 83% identity with its homologues in the vertebrates and more than 84% identity with those in the invertebrates. AmphiL35 is more than 63% identical to its counterparts in the vertebrates and more than 52% identical to those in the invertebrates. Southern blot analysis demonstrated the existence of 1-2 copies of the S23 gene and 2-3 copies of the L35 gene in the genome of amphioxus B. belcheri tsingtauense. This is in sharp contrast to the presence of 6-13 copies of the S23 gene and 15-17 copies of the L35 gene in therat genome. It is clear that the housekeeping genes like S23 and L35 underwent a large-scale duplication in the vertebrate lineage, reinforcing the gene/genome duplication hypothesis.     

Amphioxus allantoicase: molecular cloning, expression and enzymatic activity

Allantoicase, one of the purine metabolism enzymes, is progressively truncated during the chordate evolution, yet it is unknown when its activity became phylogenetically extinct. In this study, a cDNA encoding allantoicase was isolated from the gut cDNA library of amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtauense. It is 2441 bp long, and contains an open reading frame encoding a protein of 392 amino acid residues. RT-PCR analysis showed that amphioxus allantoicase was strongly expressed in the hepatic caecum, and weakly expressed in other tissues including hind-gut, gill, muscle, notochord, testis and ovary. The parallel experiment was performed measuring the allantoicase activity in the same tissues revealed that its activity was high in the hepatic caecum, but low or undetectable in other tissues examined. These suggest that allantoicase remains in action in the primitive chordate amphioxus.     

Genes "waiting" for recruitment by the adaptive immune system: the insights from amphioxus

In seeking evidence of the existence of adaptive immune system (AIS) in ancient chordate, cDNA clones of six libraries from a protochordate, the Chinese amphioxus, were sequenced. Although the key molecules such as TCR, MHC, Ig, and RAG in AIS have not been identified from our database, we demonstrated in this study the extensive molecular evidence for the presence of genes homologous to many genes that are involved in AIS directly or indirectly, including some of which may represent the putative precursors of vertebrate AIS-related genes. The comparative analyses of these genes in different model organisms revealed the different fates of these genes during evolution. Their gene expression pattern suggested that the primitive digestive system is the pivotal place of the origin and evolution of the AIS. Our studies support the general statement that AIS appears after the jawless/jawed vertebrate split. However our study further reveals the fact that AIS is in its twilight in amphioxus and the evolution of the molecules in amphioxus are waiting for recruitment by the emergence of AIS.