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Molecular cloning and expression analysis of Bmrbp1, the Bombyx mori homologue of the Drosophila gene rbp1

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Abstract

RBP1 is an important splicing factor involved in alternative splicing of the pre-mRNA of Drosophila sex-determining gene dsx. In this work, the Bombyx mori homologue of the rbp1 gene, Bmrbp1, was cloned. The pre-mRNA of Bmrbp1 gene is alternatively spliced to produce four mature mRNAs, named Bmrbp1-PA, Bmrbp1-PB, Bmrbp1-PC and Bmrbp1-PD, with nucleotide lengths of 799 nt, 1,316 nt, 894 nt and 724 nt, coding for 142 aa, 159 aa, 91 aa and 117 aa, respectively. BmRBP1-PA and BmRBP1-PD contain a N terminal RNA recognization motif (RRM) and a C terminal arginine/serine-rich domain, while BmRBP1-PB and BmRBP1-PC only share a RRM. Amino acid sequence alignments showed that BmRBP1 is conserved with its homologues in other insects and with other SR family proteins. The RT-PCR showed that Bmrbp1-PA was strongly expressed in all examined tissues and development stages, but Bmrbp1-PB was weakly expressed in these tissues and stages. The expression of both Bmrbp1-PA and Bmrbp1-PB showed no obvious sex difference. While the Bmrbp1-PC and Bmrbp1-PD were beyond detection by RT-PCR very likely due to their tissue/stage specificity. These results suggested that Bmrbp1 should be a member of SR family splicing factors, whether it is involved in the sex-specific splicing of Bmdsx pre-mRNA needs further research.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by research grants from the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2005CB121000) and the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (No. IRT0750).

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  1. The Key Sericultural Laboratory of Agricultural Ministry, College of Sericulture and Biotechnology, Southwest University, 400716, Beibei, Chongqing, China

    Zilong Wang, Xingfu Zha, Ningjia He, Zhonghuai Xiang & Qingyou Xia

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  1. Zilong Wang
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  2. Xingfu Zha
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  5. Qingyou Xia
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Correspondence to Qingyou Xia.

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Wang, Z., Zha, X., He, N. et al. Molecular cloning and expression analysis of Bmrbp1, the Bombyx mori homologue of the Drosophila gene rbp1 . Mol Biol Rep 37, 2525–2531 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9768-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9768-z

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