title: Molecular cloning and expression of the osteoclast-stimulating-factor-like gene from the rice field eel.
abstract: Sexual development in vertebrates is a complex process. Vertebrates use several mechanisms to determine the development of a male or female organism. The genes for determination of sequential hermaphrodite sex are unknown. We identified a homologue of human osteoclast-stimulating factor (OSF) in the rice field eel, a teleost that undergoes natural sex transformation from female, via intersex, to male during its lifetime. The rice field eel OSF-like gene cDNA encoded a peptide of 214 amino acids that contains a c-Src homology 3 domain, proline-rich region, and ankyrin repeats, suggesting potential involvement in cell signaling. The gene was clustered into the OSF gene group of all the other vertebrates. Although expressed in the three kinds of gonads and in other tissues, OSF-like gene expression in gonads of all the three sexes was restricted to the gonadal germinal epithelium, from where bipotential gonia (oogonia or spermatogonia) will differentiate, suggesting that the OSF-like gene may be involved in sexual differentiation, in addition to its other roles as a regulator in development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Center for Developmental Biology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Laixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Hanhua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Hongshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Yiqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Rongjia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006066:Gonads / Q000378:metabolism; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D023701:Smegmamorpha / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D010455:Peptides; C408994:osteoclast stimulating factor