Alternative splicing and tissue expression of CIB4 gene in sheep testis.
In this study, the sheep CIB4 cDNA was cloned from the small tail Han sheep by RT-PCR and RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends), and CIB4 cDNA and amino acid sequence were analyzed. Our results showed that the sheep CIB4 gene expressed two alternatively spliced variants L-CIB4 (long CIB4) and S-CIB4 (short CIB4). Sequence analysis indicated that the sheep CIB4 cDNA cloned (L-CIB4) was 745-bp in length (GenBank accession number: FJ039532) with 185 amino acids residues. The sheep CIB4 cDNA showed more than 72% of sequence identity, at the nucleotide level, to its equivalents in cattle, horse, chimpanzee, humans, mice and rats, while at the deduced protein level, the value increased to 79.6%. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR using total RNA from different tissues showed that CIB4 has a strong tissue-specific expression pattern in sheep. L-CIB4 expression level was shown to be no different in small tail Han sheep and the Dorset ram, but both were significantly different from the Texel (P<0.05). Surprisingly, the short spliced form, S-CIB4, could only be detected in small tail Han sheep, suggesting that CIB4 may be linked in some way to the high fecundity of this breed.
Institute of Animal Science Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
Yan
Y
Yu
Yuan
Y
Zhang
Xuemei
X
Song
Mei
M
Jin
Qun
Q
Guan
Qiyao
Q
Zhang
Shangang
S
Li
Caihong
C
Wei
Guobin
G
Lu
Ju
J
Zhang
Hangxing
H
Ren
Xihui
X
Sheng
Chuduan
C
Wang
Lixin
L
Du
D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012756:Sheep / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013737:Testis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D014018:Tissue Distribution / Q000235:genetics
D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins; D020033:Protein Isoforms