title: Molecular characterization and tissue distribution of estrogen receptor genes in domestic yak.
abstract: Estrogen and its receptors are essential hormones for normal reproductive function in males and females during developmental stage. To better understand the effect of estrogen receptor (ER) gene in yak (Bos grunniens), reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out to clone ERα and ERβ genes. Bioinformatics methods were used to analyze the evolutionary relationship between yaks and other species, and real-time PCR was performed to identify the mRNA expression of ERα and ERβ. Sequence analysis showed that the ER open reading frames (ORFs) encoded 596 and 527 amino acid proteins. The yak ERα and ERβ shared 45.3% to 99.5% and 53.9% to 99.1% protein sequence identities with other species homologs, respectively. Real-time PCR analysis revealed that ERα and ERβ were expressed in a variety of tissues, but the expression level of ERα was higher than that of ERβ in all tissues, except testis. The mRNA expression of ERα was highest in the mammary gland, followed by uterus, oviduct, and ovary, and lowest in the liver, kidney, lung, testis, spleen, and heart. The ERβ mRNA level was highest in the ovary; intermediary in the uterus and oviduct; and lowest in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, mammary gland, and testis. The identification and tissue distribution of ER genes in yaks provides a foundation for the further study on their biological functions.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Southwest University for Nationalities, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Southwest University for Nationalities, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
authors.forename: Xian-Rong
authors.initials: XR
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Institute of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Southwest University for Nationalities, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China .
authors.forename: Dao-Liang
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science and Technology, Southwest University for Nationalities, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China ; Institute of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Southwest University for Nationalities, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China .
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: Estrogen Receptor Gene; Gene Expression; Tissue Distribution; Yak