title: Molecular cloning and developmental expression of zinc finger transcription factor MTF-1 gene in zebrafish, Danio rerio.
abstract: Metal-responsive transcription factor, MTF-1 is a zinc finger protein, shown to be essential for embryonic development. Homozygous knockout mouse embryos for MTF-1 die in utero at day 14 of gestation, due to liver decay. In the present study, we report the complete nucleotide sequence of cDNA encoding zebrafish MTF-1 and the amino acid sequence similarity with that of mouse, human, fish and Drosophila. The size of the zebrafish MTF-1 cDNA is 3,379 bp and the coding region (1,779 bp) encodes a polypeptide of 593 amino acids. The putative zinc finger and transactivation domains comprised by zebrafish MTF-1 were also determined. The zebrafish MTF-1 shows high identity of 97, 93, 93 and 67% in the DNA binding zinc finger domain and 51, 44, 48 and 20% overall identity with fugu, human, mouse and Drosophila, respectively. RT-PCR results show the maternal expression of MTF-1 transcripts. The pattern of MTF-1 gene expression during embryonic and early larval development was studied by whole-mount in situ hybridization using DIG-labeled anti-sense RNA probe. Stronger and ubiquitous expression was observed during the embryonic stages whereas, specific expression, especially in the neural parts, was observed throughout the stages studied after hatching.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, NanKang, Taipei, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wen-Ya
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Joseph Abraham Christopher
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: John
authors.forename: Chen-Hui
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chi-Yao
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D020539:Sequence Analysis, Protein; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D016335:Zinc Fingers; D000097809:Transcription Factor MTF-1
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014157:Transcription Factors; D029961:Zebrafish Proteins; D000097809:Transcription Factor MTF-1