Identification of medaka magnetoreceptor and cryptochromes  

作　　者：Yunzhi Wang Jianbin Chen Feng Zhu Yunhan Hong 

机构地区：[1]Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543, Singapore

出　　处：《Science China(Life Sciences)》2017年第3期271-278,共8页中国科学（生命科学英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Research Foundation of Singapore(NRF-CRP7-2010-03)

摘　　要：Magnetoreception is a hallmark ability of animals for orientation and migration via sensing and utilizing geomagnetic fields.Magnetoreceptor(MagR) and cryptochromes(Cry) have recently been identified as the basis for magnetoreception in Drosophila.However,it has remained unknown whether MagR and Cry have conserved roles in diverse animals.Here we report the identification and expression of magr and cry genes in the fish medaka(Oryzias latipes).Cloning and sequencing identified a single magr gene,four cry genes and one cry-like gene in medaka.By sequence alignment,chromosomal synteny and gene structure analysis,medaka cry2 and magr were found to be the orthologs of human Cry2 and Magr,with cry1 aa and crylab being coorthologs of human Cry1.Therefore,magr and cry2 have remained as single copy genes,whereas cry1 has undergone two rounds of gene duplication in medaka.Interestingly,magr and cry genes were detected in various stages throughout embryogenesis and displayed ubiquitous expression in adult organs rather than specific or preferential expression in neural organs such as brain and eye.Importantly,magr knockdown by morpholino did not produce visible abnormality in developing embryos,pointing to the possibility of producing viable magr knockouts in medaka as a vertebrate model for magnet biology.Magnetoreception is a hallmark ability of animals for orientation and migration via sensing and utilizing geomagnetic fields.Magnetoreceptor（MagR） and cryptochromes（Cry） have recently been identified as the basis for magnetoreception in Drosophila.However,it has remained unknown whether MagR and Cry have conserved roles in diverse animals.Here we report the identification and expression of magr and cry genes in the fish medaka（Oryzias latipes）.Cloning and sequencing identified a single magr gene,four cry genes and one cry-like gene in medaka.By sequence alignment,chromosomal synteny and gene structure analysis,medaka cry2 and magr were found to be the orthologs of human Cry2 and Magr,with cry1 aa and crylab being coorthologs of human Cry1.Therefore,magr and cry2 have remained as single copy genes,whereas cry1 has undergone two rounds of gene duplication in medaka.Interestingly,magr and cry genes were detected in various stages throughout embryogenesis and displayed ubiquitous expression in adult organs rather than specific or preferential expression in neural organs such as brain and eye.Importantly,magr knockdown by morpholino did not produce visible abnormality in developing embryos,pointing to the possibility of producing viable magr knockouts in medaka as a vertebrate model for magnet biology.

关 键 词：magnetoreception MagR cryptochrome magnetogenetics 

分 类 号：Q953[生物学—动物学]