title: First non-vertebrate member of the myc gene family is seasonally expressed in an invertebrate testis.
abstract: We have cloned and characterized the first non-vertebrate member of the myc gene family, pAv-myc, from testes of the Northern sea star, Asterias vulgaris (Echinodermata). We have used an oligonucleotide that is complementary to the virtually 100% conserved vertebrate c-myc box A in the second exon and a cDNA library constructed from spermatogenically active testes. Relatives of this echinoderm existed approximately 100 million years prior to the origin of the earliest known organism for which c-myc sequence is currently available (the trout). Nonetheless, our cDNA encodes a protein with approximately 30% amino acid identity and 46% overall conservation to human c-myc. Regions of substantially higher conservation (63-95%) correspond in order to the transcriptional activation (boxes A, B and C), casein kinase II phosphorylation, nuclear-targeting, basic DNA-binding and oligomerization domains in the second and third exons of human c-myc. Sea star c-myc cDNA detects a 2.7-kb transcript on Northern blots of monthly samples of testicular tissue from field-collected individuals (n = 6-8), indicating peak expression during active spermatogenesis. This is also the first example of seasonal variation in expression of c-myc during spermatogenesis in laboratory or natural populations of any animal. It is intriguing to speculate about the potential oncogenic character of c-myc in this invertebrate, in which tumors have not yet been observed, and about the possibility that c-myc is more widely present in eucaryotes than has been anticipated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of New Hampshire, Durham 03824.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Boom
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Marsh
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D004447:Echinodermata / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D016259:Genes, myc; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012621:Seasons; D013737:Testis / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA