title: A pumilio homolog in Polycelis sp.
abstract: Pumilio proteins (PUMs), members of the pumilio/fem-3 mRNA-binding factor (PUF) family, are eukaryote-specific RNA-binding proteins. We isolated a 2,048-basepair cDNA fragment of a pumilio homolog from the planarian flatworm Polycelis sp. This pumilio protein (PyPUM) contains a conserved pumilio homology domain (PUM-HD) consisting of eight repeats and two flanking half repeats. PyPUM shows high similarity to Dugesia japonica pumilio (DjPUM) from another planarian D. japonica, and their PUM-HD also shows high similarity to each other. Furthermore, our data showed that there is a flatworm-specific spacer between repeats 7 and 8. Phylogenetic analysis showed that PyPUM has a closer relationship to other PUM homologs from flatworms. These results provide a foundation for future functional studies of pumilio gene in Polycelis sp.
authors.affiliation: Life Science College, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang City, China, ywyanqing@163.com.
authors.forename: Yanqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuwen
authors.forename: Zimei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Si
authors.forename: Guangwen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D010802:Phylogeny; D010932:Planarians / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012038:Regeneration
chemical_list: D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins