Molecular cloning and expression patterns of the Vasa gene from Rana nigromaculata (Amphibia: Anura)

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The Vasa protein is a member of the DEAD (Asp-Glu-Alu-Asp) box family of ATP-dependent RNA helicases.The Vasa gene is specifically expressed in germ-line cells of many metazoans and is known to play a critical role in gametogenesis and reproductive regulation. In this paper, we isolate the full length cDNA sequence of the Vasa gene from the frog Rana nigromaculata Hallowell, 1861. The open reading frame (ORF) encoding 398 amino acid residues has nine conserved motifs. According to the similarities at the amino acid sequenceÿthe phylogenetic analysis of Vasa gene was consistent with the evolution relationships from chordates to mammals. Furthermore, the expression pattern analysis of RnVasa mRNA, using the technique of Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), showed a high level of transcripts in testis, ovary and kidney, whereas little to no signal was detected in other tissues, which suggests that it may play a role during gametogenesis.

Identification and Characterization of Dimorphic Expression of Sex-Related Genes in Rock Bream, a Fish With Multiple Sex Chromosomes

“…Although previous studies have shown that vasa is specifically expressed in the gonads in most teleost, where it plays an essential role in the formation of germ cells, several studies have also reported that vasa was expressed in tissues other than the gonads, such as the heart and brain of O. mykiss (Yoshizaki et al, 2000), the heart of tongue sole Cynoglossus semilaevis (Zhang et al, 2012). And such extragonadal expression was also detected in Mammalian (Zamboni and Upadhyay, 1983) and Amphibian (Ikenishi and Tanaka, 2000;Jia et al, 2009). Nevertheless, the functional significance of extragonadal expression of vasa remains to be determined.…”