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.
Yu
Yan
Y
Institute of Animal Science Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China.
Zhang
Yuan
Y
Song
Xuemei
X
Jin
Mei
M
Guan
Qun
Q
Zhang
Qiyao
Q
Li
Shangang
S
Wei
Caihong
C
Lu
Guobin
G
Zhang
Ju
J
Ren
Hangxing
H
Sheng
Xihui
X
Wang
Chuduan
C
Du
Lixin
L
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