Structure and developmental expression of hatching enzyme genes of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica: an aspect of the evolution of fish hatching enzyme gene

We isolated seven cDNA clones from embryos of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica. Each deduced amino acid sequence consisted of a signal peptide, a propeptide and a mature enzyme portion belonging to the astacin protease family. A phylogenetic analysis showed that the eel enzymes resembled the high...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Development genes and evolution 2004-04, Vol.214 (4), p.176-184
Main Authors: Hiroi, Junya, Maruyama, Kouichi, Kawazu, Kouji, Kaneko, Toyoji, Ohtani-Kaneko, Ritsuko, Yasumasu, Shigeki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Anguilla - embryology
Anguilla - genetics
Anguilla - metabolism
Animals
Embryo, Nonmammalian - chemistry
Enzymes
Evolution, Molecular
Female
Fish
Gene Components
Gene Expression
Male
Metalloendopeptidases - chemistry
Metalloendopeptidases - genetics
Metalloendopeptidases - metabolism
Molecular Sequence Data
Phylogeny
RNA, Messenger - analysis
Sequence Alignment
Zebrafish
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Summary:We isolated seven cDNA clones from embryos of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica. Each deduced amino acid sequence consisted of a signal peptide, a propeptide and a mature enzyme portion belonging to the astacin protease family. A phylogenetic analysis showed that the eel enzymes resembled the high choriolytic enzyme (HCE) of medaka Oryzias latipes, and the hatching enzymes of the zebra fish Danio rerio and masu salmon Oncorhynchus masou. Hatching enzymes of these teleosts belonged to the group of the medaka HCE, and not the medaka low choriolytic enzyme (LCE), another hatching enzyme of medaka. Southern blot analysis showed that the genes of the eel hatching enzymes were multicopy genes like the medaka HCE genes. However, one of the eel hatching enzyme genes comprised eight exons and seven introns, and the exon-intron organization was similar to the medaka LCE gene, which is a single-copy gene. The molecular evolution of the fish hatching enzyme genes is discussed. In addition, whole-mount in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry showed that the eel hatching enzyme was first expressed in the pillow anterior to the forebrain of early neurula, and finally in the cell mass on the yolk sac of later stage embryos. The early differentiation profile of eel hatching gland cells was similar to that of medaka, masu salmon and zebrafish, whereas the final location of the gland cells was different among fishes.
ISSN:0949-944X
1432-041X
DOI:10.1007/s00427-004-0397-1