title: Isolation and expression of a novel alligator gene belonging to the Sox gene family.
abstract: Sox genes share a highly conserved DNA-binding motif, the HMG (high mobility group)-box domain, and have diverse roles in vertebrate embryonic development. A novel SRY-related cDNA (temporarily called Sox33) isolated from the Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis) is 1,819 bp in length, with an open reading frame from 220 to 1113 bp, encoding a protein of 298 amino acids. Two putative polyadenylation signal sequences (AATAAA) are present upstream of the poly(A) tail in the 3' UTR (at 1255-1260 and 1774-1779). The putative protein contains an HMG-box domain most closely related to hSox12, mSox4, rtSox11, and mSox11 homologs, indicating that alligator Sox33 belongs to group C in the Sox gene family. Alligator adult and developing tissues were tested for Sox33 mRNA by independent Northern blots using a 336-bp probe (at 907-1243) between the HMG-box and the poly(A) site I and a 277-bp probe (at 1477-1754) between the two polyadenylation sites. Two transcripts (1.3 kb and 1.8 kb) in developing brain and one (1.8 kb) in adult brain were identified by the 336-bp probe; only one transcript (1.8 kb) in developing and adult brains was detected by the 277-bp probe. The results suggest that alligator Sox33 may use a different polyadenylation mechanism in the developing brain and play a role in the development and maintenance of the nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Genetics, College of Life Sciences and Technology, Nanhua University, Hengyang, 421001, People's Republic of China. jifangzh@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Jifang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Muyuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yaqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nu
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000489:Alligators and Crocodiles / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D055747:SOX Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D055747:SOX Transcription Factors