title: Two myostatin genes exhibit divergent and conserved functions in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus).
abstract: Myostatin (MSTN) is an important negative regulator of myogenesis, which inhibits myoblast proliferation and differentiation. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of two mstn genes in grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus). Grass carp mstn-1 and mstn-2 cDNAs are highly divergent, sharing a relatively low amino acid sequence identity of 66%. In adult fish, both orthologs are expressed in numerous tissues and they are differentially regulated during a fasting/refeeding treatments. During embryogenesis, the mRNA levels of both mstn-1 and -2 were upregulated significantly at the beginning of somitogenesis, and maintained at high levels until hatching. Using in situ hybridization, grass carp mstn-1 mRNA was found to ubiquitously express at 12hpf, with strong signals in the notochord, and in the eyes, brain and tailbud at 24hpf, and in brain and notochord at 36hpf. In comparison, the mstn-2 mRNA can be detected in the eyes, brain and notochord at 24hpf, and in the notochord and hindbrain at 36hpf. Further overexpression of mstn-1 mRNA caused a strongly ventralized phenotype by inhibiting dorsal tissue development, while injection of mstn-2 mRNA resulted in obvious embryonic abnormalities in grass carp. These results provide some new insights into the functional conservation and divergence of mstn genes in teleost species.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Aquatic Genetic Resources, Shanghai Ocean University, 999 Huchenghuan Road, Shanghai 201306, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Dong
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Aquatic Genetic Resources, Shanghai Ocean University, 999 Huchenghuan Road, Shanghai 201306, China.
authors.forename: Cheng-Fei
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Aquatic Genetic Resources, Shanghai Ocean University, 999 Huchenghuan Road, Shanghai 201306, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Wei
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Pu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Aquatic Genetic Resources, Shanghai Ocean University, 999 Huchenghuan Road, Shanghai 201306, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Aquatic Genetic Resources, Shanghai Ocean University, 999 Huchenghuan Road, Shanghai 201306, China. Electronic address: jiangxy@shou.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xia-Yun
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Freshwater Aquatic Genetic Resources, Shanghai Ocean University, 999 Huchenghuan Road, Shanghai 201306, China. Electronic address: smzou@shou.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shu-Ming
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002347:Carps / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005215:Fasting / Q000502:physiology; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D055435:Myostatin / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D019170:Somites / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D029941:Fish Proteins; D055435:Myostatin; D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: Gene duplication; Grass carp; Myostatin; Overexpression; Ventralized phenotype