Structure and expression of the zebrafish mest gene, an ortholog of mammalian imprinted gene PEG1/MEST.
PEG1/MEST is a paternally expressed gene in placental mammals. Here, we report identification of zebrafish (Danio rerio) gene mest, an ortholog of mammalian PEG1/MEST. Zebrafish mest encodes a polypeptide of 344 amino acids and shows a significant similarity to mammalian orthologs. Zebrafish mest is present as a single copy in the zebrafish genome and is closely linked to copg2 as in mammals. It is notable that 10 of 11 intron positions in mest are conserved among mammalian PEG1/MEST genes, indicating that the genomic organization and linkage between mest and copg2 loci was established in ancient vertebrates. Zebrafish mest is expressed in blastula, segmentation, and larval stages, exhibiting gradually increased expression as the development proceeds. Allelic expression analysis in hybrid larvae shows that both parental alleles are transcribed. We also observed one-codon alternative splicing involving an alternative usage of the two consecutive splice acceptors of intron 1, generating two protein isoforms with different lengths of a single amino acid.
Hahn
Yoonsoo
Y
Department of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 305-701, South Korea.
Yang
Seung Kyoung
SK
Chung
Jae Hoon
JH
D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003062:Codon / Q000378:metabolism; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017385:Sequence Homology; D026801:Synteny; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*
D003062:Codon; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D011506:Proteins; C103637:mesoderm specific transcript protein