Characterization and developmental expression of AmphiMef2 gene in amphioxus  

作　　者：ZHANG Ying WANG LiFeng SHAO Ming ZHANG HongWei 

机构地区：[1]Institute of Developmental Biology, Life Science College, Key Lab of Experimental Teratology of Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China Institute of Developmental Biology, Life Science College, Key Lab of Experimental Teratology of Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China Institute of Developmental Biology, Life Science College, Key Lab of Experimental Teratology of Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China Institute of Developmental Biology, Life Science College, Key Lab of Experimental Teratology of Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250100, China

出　　处：《Science China(Life Sciences)》2007年第5期637-641,共5页中国科学（生命科学英文版）

基　　金：Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 30270693 and 30570967);the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2007CB815800)

摘　　要：Myocyte enhancer factor 2 proteins are members of MADS family of transcription factors, which can control the expression of muscle-specific genes in vertebrates. However, not all Mef2 genes are es-sential for muscle development in invertebrates. Here we have isolated a full-length cDNA from am-phioxus, designated AmphiMef2. The predicted amino acid sequence has highly conserved MADS and MEF2 domains, showing higher identity with the corresponding regions of its homologues in verte-brates than those in invertebrates. Results from whole-mount in situ hybridization show that the ex-pression of AmphiMef2 initially appears in the presomitic mesoderm at early neurula stage, then the transcripts are detected in both the somites and the unsegmented presomitic mesoderm. At 36 h larval stage, the expression is only detected in the posterior somites. By 48 h larval stage, the expression is shifted to the preoral pit (a homologous organ to the vertebrate adenohypophysis) and persists until at least 72 h larval stage. The results suggest that AmphiMef2 may be not only involved in the myogenesis but also the development or function of the preoral pit in amphioxus.Myocyte enhancer factor 2 proteins are members of MADS family of transcription factors, which can control the expression of muscle-specific genes in vertebrates. However, not all Mef2 genes are es-sential for muscle development in invertebrates. Here we have isolated a full-length cDNA from am-phioxus, designated AmphiMef2. The predicted amino acid sequence has highly conserved MADS and MEF2 domains, showing higher identity with the corresponding regions of its homologues in verte-brates than those in invertebrates. Results from whole-mount in situ hybridization show that the ex-pression of AmphiMef2 initially appears in the presomitic mesoderm at early neurula stage, then the transcripts are detected in both the somites and the unsegmented presomitic mesoderm. At 36 h larval stage, the expression is only detected in the posterior somites. By 48 h larval stage, the expression is shifted to the preoral pit (a homologous organ to the vertebrate adenohypophysis) and persists until at least 72 h larval stage. The results suggest that AmphiMef2 may be not only involved in the myogenesis but also the development or function of the preoral pit in amphioxus.

关 键 词：AmphiMef2  amphioxus  DEVELOPMENTAL expression  myogenesis  preoral PIT 

分 类 号：N[自然科学总论]