title: Sea urchin TgBMP2/4 gene encoding a bone morphogenetic protein closely related to vertebrate BMP2 and BMP4 with maximal expression at the later stages of embryonic development.
abstract: We have cloned a gene fragment (named TgBMP2/4) that encodes a protein homologous to vertebrate bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) 2 and BMP4 in the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla. This peptide sequence contains 204 amino acids with 7 conserved cysteine residues at the C-terminus of the coding region and a cluster of basic amino acids that may serve as a signal for proteolytic cleavage. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic analyses reveal that TgBMP2/4 is closely related to vertebrate BMP2 and BMP4 as well as to amphioxus BMP2/4, with similarity levels ranging from 90% to 94% at the mature C-terminal domain. Northern blot analyses show that a 6.3-kb TgBMP2/4 mRNA appears first at the mesenchyme blastula stage and increases to a maximal level at the gastrula and pluteus stages. This expression pattern is different from that of a BMP2/4-related gene previously found in sea urchin.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D055396:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2; D055415:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000378:metabolism*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012617:Sea Urchins / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D014714:Vertebrates