A cDNA encoding Sox4 was cloned from the ovary of the Amur sturgeon, Acipenser schrenckii. The cDNA encodes a protein of 372 amino acids (aa) with an HMG box and has a 69% amino acid sequence identity with the human Sox4. Moreover, two other Sox gene members (Sox2 and Sox9) were partially cloned. Among the various tissues tested, Sox4 mRNA was prominent in the heart, liver, kidney, eye and gonads (testis and ovary) at different development stages. The Sox2 expression pattern of gonads appears to be differently sex-specific sequenced, whereby the testis is highly expressed while the ovary is lowly expressed. Sox2 mRNA are also highly expressed in the eyes, kidney and liver tissue. Sox9 mRNA are ubiquitously expressed in the heart, kidney, liver, and eye, and Sox9 is also expressed during gonad development, but the level in the testis is slightly higher than in the ovary.
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