title: Molecular cloning and sexually dimorphic expression of wnt4 in olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus).
abstract: WNT4 (wingless-type MMTV integration site family, member 4) is regarded as a key regulator of gonad differentiation in mammalians. However, the potential role of wnt4 in teleosts during gonad differentiation and development is still unclear. The full-length cDNA sequence of wnt4 in olive flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) was obtained using RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) technique. The wnt4 ORF contains 1059 nucleotides, encoding a protein with a signal peptide domain and a wnt family domain. Expression in tissues of adult flounders was analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. The results showed that wnt4 was widely expressed in multiple tissues of flounders, and the expression level was significantly higher in ovary than in testis. Then wnt4 expression pattern was investigated during gonadal differentiation period and at gonadal development stages (I-V). The results showed the expression levels were significantly higher in testis than in ovary during gonadal differentiation. Notably, wnt4 expression had a very significant increase before testis differentiation. At gonad different developmental stages, there was no expression signal at stage I or stage II, and the expression of wnt4 was much stronger in ovary than in testis at stage III and stage IV, followed by a faint expression in stage V in both sexes. Our results imply that cloned wnt4 could be wnt4a. It is a sex-related gene and its expression pattern in gonadal differentiation period of flounder is different from that in mammalians or other teleosts. Flounder wnt4 might play more important role in testis than in ovary during gonadal differentiation.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao, 266071, People's Republic of China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10049, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Shenda
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao, 266071, People's Republic of China. youfeng@qdio.ac.cn.|Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266071, People's Republic of China. youfeng@qdio.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao, 266071, People's Republic of China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10049, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhaofei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao, 266071, People's Republic of China.|University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 10049, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao, 266071, People's Republic of China.|Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266071, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhihao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao, 266071, People's Republic of China. zouyuxia@qdio.ac.cn.|Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266071, People's Republic of China. zouyuxia@qdio.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yuxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005260:Female; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005432:Flounder / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism; D060528:Wnt4 Protein / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D029941:Fish Proteins; D060528:Wnt4 Protein
keywords: Gonadal development; Gonadal differentiation; Molecular cloning; Olive flounder; Sexually dimorphic expression; wnt4