Genome-wide identification and analysis of basic helix-loop-helix domains in dog, Canis lupus familiaris.
The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) domain is a highly conserved amino acid motif that defines a group of DNA-binding transcription factors. bHLH proteins play essential regulatory roles in a variety of biological processes in animal, plant, and fungus. The domestic dog, Canis lupus familiaris, is a good model organism for genetic, physiological, and behavioral studies. In this study, we identified 115 putative bHLH genes in the dog genome. Based on a phylogenetic analysis, 51, 26, 14, 4, 12, and 4 dog bHLH genes were assigned to six separate groups (A-F); four bHLH genes were categorized as ''orphans''. Within-group evolutionary relationships inferred from the phylogenetic analysis were consistent with positional conservation, other conserved domains flanking the bHLH motif, and highly conserved intron/exon patterns in other vertebrates. Our analytical results confirmed the GenBank annotations of 89 dog bHLH proteins and provided information that could be used to update the annotations of the remaining 26 dog bHLH proteins. These data will provide good references for further studies on the structures and regulatory functions of bHLH proteins in the growth and development of dogs, which may help in understanding the mechanisms that underlie the physical and behavioral differences between dogs and wolves.
Institute of Life Sciences, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, 212013, China.
Xu-Hua
XH
Wang
Yong
Y
Wang
A-Ke
AK
Liu
Xiao-Ting
XT
Liu
Yang
Y
Zhou
Qin
Q
Yao
Ke-Ping
KP
Chen
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004285:Dogs / Q000235:genetics*; D016678:Genome; D018257:Helix-Loop-Helix Motifs / Q000235:genetics; D007438:Introns; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins