title: Genome-wide identification of nuclear receptor (NR) superfamily genes in the copepod Tigriopus japonicus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nuclear receptors (NRs) are a large superfamily of proteins defined by a DNA-binding domain (DBD) and a ligand-binding domain (LBD). They function as transcriptional regulators to control expression of genes involved in development, homeostasis, and metabolism. The number of NRs differs from species to species, because of gene duplications and/or lineage-specific gene losses during metazoan evolution. Many NRs in arthropods interact with the ecdysteroid hormone and are involved in ecdysone-mediated signaling in arthropods. The nuclear receptor superfamily complement has been reported in several arthropods, including crustaceans, but not in copepods. We identified the entire NR repertoire of the copepod Tigriopus japonicus, which is an important marine model species for ecotoxicology and environmental genomics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using whole genome and transcriptome sequences, we identified a total of 31 nuclear receptors in the genome of T. japonicus. Nomenclature of the nuclear receptors was determined based on the sequence similarities of the DNA-binding domain (DBD) and ligand-binding domain (LBD). The 7 subfamilies of NRs separate into five major clades (subfamilies NR1, NR2, NR3, NR4, and NR5/6). Although the repertoire of NR members in, T. japonicus was similar to that reported for other arthropods, there was an expansion of the NR1 subfamily in Tigriopus japonicus. The twelve unique nuclear receptors identified in T. japonicus are members of NR1L. This expansion may be a unique lineage-specific feature of crustaceans. Interestingly, E78 and HR83, which are present in other arthropods, were absent from the genomes of T. japonicus and two congeneric copepod species (T. japonicus and Tigriopus californicus), suggesting copepod lineage-specific gene loss.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We identified all NR receptors present in the copepod, T. japonicus. Knowledge of the copepod nuclear receptor repertoire will contribute to a better understanding of copepod- and crustacean-specific NR evolution.
authors.forename: Dae-Sik
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Bo-Young
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hui-Su
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Min Chul
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Do-Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kyung
authors.forename: Ae-Son
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Om
authors.forename: Jae-Sung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Rhee
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, College of Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, South Korea. jslee2@skku.edu.
authors.forename: Jae-Seong
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D043344:Chordata / Q000235:genetics; D033342:Copepoda / Q000235:genetics*; D016678:Genome; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity; D009626:Terminology as Topic
chemical_list: D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear