Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cloning and expression analysis of vasa during the reproductive cycle of Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegeli

  • Published:
Journal of Ocean University of China Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Vasa, which is a conserved member of the DEAD-box protein family, plays an indispensable role in primordial germ cell proliferation. However, the expression of vasa gene during the reproductive cycle in ovoviviparous fish has not been documented. In this study, the full-length sequence of vasa was obtained from the ovary of Korean rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli) using reverse transcription-PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends. The Vasa with a mature protein of 650 amino acids showed greatest homology (84%) with giant gourami (Osphronemus goramy) and Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis). The expression of vasa mRNA in Korean rockfish was detected in gonads only, suggesting its specific role in gonadal development. In addition, seasonal changes in the vasa expression levels were examined in gonads by quantitative real-time PCR. The vasa transcript levels in adult testis were found higher during spermatogenesis than during spermiation. The vasa transcript levels remained relatively high at the early ovary stage but declined during ovary maturation in adult female fish. These results suggest that the vasa gene play an important role in spermatogenesis and early oogenesis during the reproductive cycle of Korean rockfish.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Altschul, S. F., Gish, W., Miller, W., Myers, E. W., and Lipman, D., 1990. Basic local alignment search tool. Journal of Molecular Biology, 215: 403–410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blázquez, M., González, A., Mylonas, C. C., and Piferrer, F., 2010. Cloning and sequence analysis of a vasa homolog in the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax): Tissue distribution and mRNA expression levels during early development and sex differentiation. General and Comparative Endocrinology, 170(2): 322–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braat, A. K., Speksnijder, J. E., and Zivkovic, D., 1999. Germ line development in fishes. The International Journal of Developmental Biology, 43(7): 745–760.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cardinali, M., Gioacchini, G., Candiani, S., Pestarino, M., Yoshizaki, G., and Carnevali, O., 2004. Hormonal regulation of vasa-like messenger RNA expression in the ovary of the marine teleost Sparus aurata. Biology of Reproduction, 70(3): 737–743.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castrillon, D. H., Quade, B. J, Wang, T. Y., Quigley, C., and Crum, C. P., 2000. The human VASA gene is specifically expressed in the germ cell lineage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 97(17): 9 585–9 590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, C. F., Wen, H. S., He, F., and Dong, S. L., 2009. Programming design of degenerate primers and cloning half-smooth tongue sole Cynoglossus semilaevis CYP17 gene. Periodical of Ocean University of China, 39(6): 1 213–1 218 (in Chinese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dearden, P. K., 2006. Germ cell development in the honeybee (Apis mellifera): Vasa and Nanos expression. BMC Developmental Biology, 6(6): 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fujiwara, Y., Komiya, T., Kawabata, H., Sato, M., Fujimoto, H., Furusawa, M., and Noce, T., 1994. Isolation of a DEAD-family protein gene that encodes a murine homolog of Drosophila vasa and its specific expression in germ cell lineage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 91(25): 12 258–12 262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hasegawa, M., and Kishino, H., 1994. Accuracies of the simple methods for estimating the bootstrap probability of a maximum-likelihood tree. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 11(1): 142–145.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hay, B., Jan, L. Y., and Jan, Y. N., 1988. A protein component of Drosophila polar granules is encoded by vasa and has extensive sequence similarity to ATP-dependent helicases. Cell, 55(4): 577–587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ikenishi, K., and Tanaka, T. S., 2000. Spatio-temporal expression of Xenopus vasa homolog, XVLG1, in oocytes and embryos: the presence of XVLG1 RNA in somatic cells as well as germline cells. Development Growth and Differentiation, 42(2): 95–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krøvel, A. V., and Olsen, L. C., 2004. Sexual dimorphic expression pattern of a splice variant of zebrafish vasa during gonadal development. Development Biology, 271(1): 190–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiledjian, M., and Dreyfuss, G., 1992. Primary structure and binding activity of the hnRNP U protein: binding RNA through RGG box. The EMBO Journal, 11(7): 2 655–2 664.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobayashi, T., Kajiura-Kobayashi, H., and Nagahama, Y., 2000. Differential expression of vasa homologue gene in the germ cells during oogenesis and spermatogenesis in a teleost fish, tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. Mechanisms of Development, 99(1–2): 139–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lasko, P. F., and Ashburner, M., 1988. The product of the Drosophila gene vasa is very similar to eukaryotic initiation factor-4A. Nature, 335: 611–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, C. J., Liu, L., Chen, X. H., Zhang, T., Gan, F., and Cheng, B. L., 2010. Identification of a vasa homologue gene in grass carp and its expression pattern in tissues and during embryogenesis. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology B, 157(2): 159–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang, L., Diehl-Jones, W., and Lasko, P., 1994. Localization of vasa protein to the Drosophila pole plasm is independent of its RNA-binding and helicase activities. Development, 120: 1 201–1 211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, D. J., and You, Y. L., 2000. The ovarian cyclical development of ovoviviparous teleost, Sebastiscus marmoratus. Zoological Research, 21(4): 269–74 (in Chinese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, D. J., You, Y. L., and Chen, L.Y., 2000. The testicular cycle development of ovoviviparous of teleost, Sebastiscus mar-moratus. Zoological Research, 21(5): 337–342 (in Chinese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Linder P, Lasko P. F., Ashburner, M., Leroy, P., Nielsen, P. J., Nishi, K., Schnier, J., Slonimski, P. P., 1989, Birth of the D-E-A-D box. Nature, 337(6203): 121–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, H., 1997. The tao of stem cells in the germline. Annual Review of Genetics, 31(1): 455–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, M., Wen, H. S., He, F., Li, J. F., Shi, D., Hu, J., Zhang, Y. Q., Ma, R. Q., Mu, W. J., and Qi, B. X., 2011. Comp Expression patterns of cytochrome P450 aromatase genes during ovary development and their responses to temperature stress in female yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco). Journal of Ocean University of China, 10(4): 409–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Livak, K. J. and Schmittgen, T. D., 2001. Analysis of relative gene expression data using real-time quantitative PCR and the 2−ΔΔCT method. Methods, 25(4): 402–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lüking, A., Stahl, U., and Schmidt, U., 1998. The protein family of RNA helicases. Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 33(4): 259–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mochizuki, K., Nishimiya-Fujisawa, C., and Fujisawa, T., 2000. Universal occurrence of the vasa-related genes among metazoans and their germline expression in Hydra. Development Genes and Evolution, 211(6): 299–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagasawa, K., Takeuchi, Y., Miwa, M., Higuchi, K., Morita, T., Mitsuboshi, T., Miyaki, K., Kadomura, K., and Yoshizaki, G., 2009. cDNA cloning and expression analysis of a vasa-like gene in Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis. Fisheries Science, 75(1): 71–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olsen, L. C., Aasland, R., and Fjose, A., 1997. A vasa-like gene in zebrafish identifies putative primordial germ cells. Mechanisms of Devevopment, 66(1–2): 95–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pause, A. and Sonenberg, N., 1992. Mutational analysis of a DEAD box RNA helicase: the mammalian translation initiation factor eIF-4A. The EMBO Journal, 11(7): 2 643–2 654.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raghuveer, K., and Senthilkumaran, B., 2010. Cloning and differential expression pattern of vasa in the developing and recrudescing gonads of catfish, Clarias gariepinus. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A, 157(1): 79–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rongo, C., Gavis, E. R., and Lehmann, R., 1995. Localization of oskar RNA regulates oskar translation and requires Oskar protein. Development, 121: 2 737–2 746.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rocak, S., and Linder, P., 2004. DEAD-box proteins: the driving forces behind RNA metabolism. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, 5: 232–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, T. M., Schultz, E. R., Henikoff, J. G., Pietrokovski, S., McCallum, C. M, and Henikoff, S., 1998. Consensus-degene-rate hybrid oligonucleotide primers for amplification of distantly related sequences. Nucleic Acids Research, 26(7): 1628–1 635.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saffman, E. E., and Lasko, P., 1999. Germline development in vertebrates and invertebrates. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 55: 1 141–1 163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schüpbach, T., and Wieschaus, E., 1986. Maternal-effect mutations altering the anterior-posterior pattern of the Drosophila embryo. Development Genes and Evolution, 195: 302–317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sellars, M. J., Lyons, R. E., Grewe, P. M., Degnan, B. M., and Preston, N. P., 2007. Isolation of a vasa-like gene from the Kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus and its differential expression pattern during embryonic, larval and post larval development. Aquaculture, 272: 309–310.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi, D., Wen, H. S., and Yang, Y. P., 2011. The Annual Change of Ovarian Development in Female Sebastes schlegel. Periodical of Ocean University of China, 41(9): 25–30 (in Chinese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shibata, N., Umesono, Y., Orii, H., Sakurai, T., Watanabe, K., and Agata, K., 1999. Expression of vasa(vas)-related genes in germline cells and totipotent somatic stem cells of planarians. Developmental Biology, 206(1): 73–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shinomiya, A., Tanaka, M., Kobayashi, T., Nagahama, Y., and Hamaguchi, S., 2000. The vasa-like gene, olvas, identifies the migration path of primordial germ cells during embryonic body formation stage in the medaka, Oryzias latipes. Development Growth and Differentiation, 42(4): 317–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tamura, K., Dudley, J., Nei, M., and Kumar, S., 2007. MEGA4: Molecular evolutionary genetics analysis (MEGA) software version 4.0. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 24(8): 1 596–1 599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, J. D., Gibson, T. J., Plewniak, F., Jeanmougin, F., and Higgins, D. G., 1997. The CLUSTAL X windows interface: flexible strategies for multiple sequence alignment aided by quality analysis tools. Nucleic Acids Research, 25(24): 4876–4 882.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voronina, E., Lopez, M., Juliano, C. E., Gustafson, E., Songa, J. L., Extavour, C., George, S., Oliveri, P., McClay, D., and Wessel, G., 2008. Vasa protein expression is restricted to the small micromeres of the sea urchin, but is inducible in other lineages early in development. Developmental Biology, 314(2): 276–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu, H. Y., Gui, J. F., and Hong, Y. H., 2005. Differential expression of vasa RNA and protern during spermatogenesis and oogenesis in the gibel carp (Carassius auratus gibelio), a bisexually and gynogenetically reproducing vertebrate. Development Dynamics, 233(3): 872–882.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, Y. P., Wen, H. S., He, F., Li, J. F., Shi, D., Chen, C. F., Zhang, J. R., Jin, G. X., Chen, X. Y., and Shi, B., 2010. The morphology and developmental histology of testis in rockfish Sebastes schlegeli. Journal of Dalian Oceanuniversity, 25(5): 391–396 (in Chinese with English abstract).

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoon, C., Kawakami, K., and Hopkins, N., 1997. Zebrafish vasa homologue RNA is localized to the cleavage planes of 2- and 4-cell-stage embryos and is expressed in the primordial germ cells. Development, 124: 3 157–3 165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yoshizaki, G., Sakatani, S., Tominaga, H., and Takeuchi, T., 2000. Cloning and characterization of a vasa-like gene in rainbow trout and its expression in the germ cell lineage. Molecular Reproduction and Development, 55(4): 364–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fisheries College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, P. R. China

    Weijie Mu, Haishen Wen, Feng He, Jifang Li, Miao Liu, Ruiqin Ma, Yuanqing Zhang & Jian Hu

  2. College of Animal Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia Nationality University, Tongliao, 028000, P. R. China

    Baoxia Qi

Authors
  1. Weijie Mu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Haishen Wen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Feng He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jifang Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Miao Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ruiqin Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Yuanqing Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Jian Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Baoxia Qi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Haishen Wen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Mu, W., Wen, H., He, F. et al. Cloning and expression analysis of vasa during the reproductive cycle of Korean rockfish, Sebastes schlegeli . J. Ocean Univ. China 12, 115–124 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-013-1941-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-013-1941-2

Key words

Search

Navigation