title: Characterization of two paralogous myostatin genes and evidence for positive selection in Tibet fish: Gymnocypris przewalskii.
abstract: Myostatin (mstn) is an important member of TGF-β superfamily, a muscle growth inhibitor. Though mstn has been identified in many organisms, little is known about this gene in highland fish, Gymnocypris przewalskii endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. In this study, we first cloned two paralogous mstn genes (mstn1 and mstn2) from G. przewalskii through homologue cloning. The 3D structures of both Mstn proteins varied in the numbers of β-sheets and conformations of α-helices. The branch-site model showed that mstn1 has undergone positive selection, and two positively selected sites (107M and 181T) were located on the random coils of the 3D protein structure. Expression patterns indicated that the mstn1 expressed widely, while the mstn2 only expressed in the muscle and brain. During the early stage of embryo development, the expression levels of both mstn paralogous genes showed different increasing trends. These results suggest that it is diverging in two mstn paralogues of G. przewalskii via specific differences in gene structure, protein structure, selection pressure and gene expression patterns. Taken together, this study provides novel contribution on the research topics of growth related gene function and mechanism of highland fish in extreme aquatic environment on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.
authors: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors: Chao
authors: C
authors: Tong
authors: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China.
authors: Cunfang
authors: C
authors: Zhang
authors: The Rescues Center of Qinghai-Lake Naked Carp, Xining 810016, China.
authors: Jianquan
authors: J
authors: Shi
authors: The Rescues Center of Qinghai-Lake Naked Carp, Xining 810016, China.
authors: Hongfang
authors: H
authors: Qi
authors: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors: Renyi
authors: R
authors: Zhang
authors: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors: Yongtao
authors: Y
authors: Tang
authors: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors: Guogang
authors: G
authors: Li
authors: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China; University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
authors: Chenguang
authors: C
authors: Feng
authors: Key Laboratory of Adaptation and Evolution of Plateau Biota, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810001, China. Electronic address: zhaokai@nwipb.cas.cn.
authors: Kai
authors: K
authors: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D003001:Cloning, Molecular / Q000379:methods; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000235:genetics; D005399:Fishes / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D055435:Myostatin / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D018609:Tibet; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D055435:Myostatin; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta
keywords: Expression pattern; Gene duplication; Gymnocypris przewalskii; Myostatin; Paralogue; Positive selection