title: Expression Analysis of Visual Arrestin gene during Ocular Development of Olive Flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus).
abstract: Olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) is one of the commercial important flatfish species in Korea. The ocular signal transduction pathway is important in newly hatched flounders because it is closely involved in the initial feeding phase thus essential for survival during the juvenile period. However, the study of gene expression during ocular development is incomplete in olive flounder. Therefore we examined the expression analysis of specifically induced genes during the development of the visual system in newly hatched flounders. We searched ocular development-involved gene in the database of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from olive flounder eye and this gene similar to arrestin with a partial sequence homology. Microscopic observation of retinal formation corresponded with the time of expression of the arrestin gene in the developmental stage. These results suggest that arrestin plays a vital role in the visual signal transduction pathway of the retina during ocular development. The expression of arrestin was strong in the ocular system during the entirety of the development stages. Our findings regarding arrestin have important implications with respect to its biological role and evolution of G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling in olive flounder. Further studies are required on the GPCR-mediated signaling pathway and to decipher the functional role of arrestin.
authors.affiliation: Genetics and Breeding Research Center, NFRDI, Geoje 656-842, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Genetics and Breeding Research Center, NFRDI, Geoje 656-842, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young Mee
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Genetics and Breeding Research Center, NFRDI, Geoje 656-842, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Koo
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.affiliation: Genetics and Breeding Research Center, NFRDI, Geoje 656-842, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Chul
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Genetics and Breeding Research Center, NFRDI, Geoje 656-842, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Choul-Ji
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Genetics and Breeding Research Center, NFRDI, Geoje 656-842, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Genetics and Breeding Research Center, NFRDI, Geoje 656-842, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: In Joon
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Genetics and Breeding Research Center, NFRDI, Geoje 656-842, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Genetics and Breeding Research Center, NFRDI, Geoje 656-842, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong-Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Arrestin; GPCR signaling; Gene expression; Ocular development; Olive flounder.