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Identification of a pou2 ortholog in Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis and its expression patterns in tissues, immature individuals and during embryogenesis

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Abstract

The class V POU family genes, including pou5f1 and pou2, encode transcription factors critical for the maintenance of pluripotency in embryonic stem cells (ESC) and germ line cells in vertebrates. In the present study, the full-length cDNA of a pou2 ortholog in A. sinensis, Aspou2, was cloned and sequenced. This cDNA sequence is 2,853 base pairs in length and encodes a peptide of 431 amino acid residues. A comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence of Aspou2 with that of other vertebrate species showed that they were highly conserved in the POU domain, which shared 88 and 90% identity with that of zebrafish and medaka, respectively, and was 69, 67 and 67% identical to frog, mouse and human, respectively. RT-PCR analysis revealed that Aspou2 was detected in all tissues examined except for the liver, and high mRNA levels of Aspou2 were found in the muscle, pituitary and brain. During the embryogenesis and early larval development, the expression level of Aspou2 mRNAs decreased gradually apart from 1-day larvae that were not observed. Furthermore, Aspou2 seemed to raise with the development of gonads of immature Chinese sturgeons. These results suggested the possible involvement of Aspou2 in the nonpluripotent cells, pluripotent cells, embryogenesis, and gonad development.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Qiwei Wei for helpful suggestions and sampling. This work was supported by the National Nonprofit Institute Research Grant of Freshwater Fisheries Research Center, Chinese Academy of Fisheries (2011JBFA22), grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (31001104), fund of Three-Gorges Project Corporation for Chinese sturgeon conservation (0799518), and fund of Central budget for running expense of Chinese sturgeon conservation 2008–2011.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Fisheries and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, 201306, China

    Huan Ye & Tao Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fisheries Science, Wuhan, 430223, China

    Huan Ye, Hao Du, Xi-Hua Chen, Tao Liu & Chuang-Ju Li

  3. Freshwater Fisheries Research Center, Chinese Academy of Fisheries Science, Wuxi, 214081, China

    Hao Du & Chuang-Ju Li

  4. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Hong Cao

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  1. Huan Ye
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Correspondence to Chuang-Ju Li.

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Ye, H., Du, H., Chen, XH. et al. Identification of a pou2 ortholog in Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis and its expression patterns in tissues, immature individuals and during embryogenesis. Fish Physiol Biochem 38, 929–942 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-011-9579-8

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