Expression Patterns of TGF-β1 , TβR-I , TβR-II, and Smad2 Reveal Insights into Heterosis for Growth of Hybrid Offspring between Acanthopagrus schlegelii and Pagrus major

• Published in: Genes 2024-07, Vol.15 (7), p.945
• Main Authors: Du, Xinran, Zhao, Yue, Li, Jingbo, Xie, Wenli, Lyu, Linna, Chen, Shuyin, Jia, Chaofeng, Yan, Jie, Li, Peng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acanthopagrus schlegelii; Amino acids; Animals; Antibodies; B cells; Developmental stages; Female; Fish; Fish Proteins - genetics; Fish Proteins - metabolism; Fisheries; Fishes; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Gene regulation; Genes; Growth; Growth factors; Heterosis; Hybrid Vigor - genetics; Hybridization; Hybridization, Genetic; Hybrids; Kinases; Liver; Male; Messenger RNA; Offspring; Pagrus major; Pagrus pagrus; Perciformes - genetics; Perciformes - growth & development; Perciformes - metabolism; Polymerase chain reaction; Proteins; Receptor, Transforming Growth Factor-beta Type I - genetics; Receptor, Transforming Growth Factor-beta Type I - metabolism; Receptor, Transforming Growth Factor-beta Type II - genetics; Receptor, Transforming Growth Factor-beta Type II - metabolism; Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta - genetics; Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta - metabolism; Signal transduction; Smad2 protein; Smad2 Protein - genetics; Smad2 Protein - metabolism; Software; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 - genetics; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 - metabolism; Transforming growth factor-b1; Transforming growth factors; Variance analysis
• ISSN: 2073-4425; 2073-4425
• DOI: 10.3390/genes15070945

TGF-β1/Smads is a classic signaling pathway, which plays important roles in the development process of organisms. Black porgy and red porgy are valuable economic fishes, and their hybrid offspring show excellent heterosis traits. Yet the molecular regulation mechanism of the heterosis traits is less clear. Here, we explored the TGF-β1/Smads pathway's molecular genetic information for heterosis in ♂ × ♀ (AP) and ♀ × ♂ (PA) in terms of growth and development. The mRNA expression levels of , , , and genes in different developmental stages of were detected. Furthermore, the expression levels of , , , and genes in different tissues of adult (mRNA level) and larva (mRNA and protein level) of , , and their hybrids were determined by both real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot techniques. The results indicated the ubiquitous expression of these genes in all developmental stages of and in all tested tissues of , and its hybrids. Among them, the mRNA of , and genes is highly expressed in the liver, gill, kidney, and muscle of black porgy, red porgy, and their hybrid offspring. There are significant changes in gene and protein expression levels in hybrid offspring, which indirectly reflect hybrid advantage. In addition, there was no correlation between protein and mRNA expression levels of Smad2 protein. The results provide novel data for the differential expression of growth and development genes between the reciprocal hybridization generation of black porgy and red porgy and its parents, which is conducive to further explaining the molecular regulation mechanism of heterosis in the growth and development of hybrid porgy.