title: Conserved elements in the nanos3 3'UTR of olive flounder are responsible for the selective retention of RNA in germ cells.
abstract: In teleost fish, primordial germ cells (PGCs) are specified very early during embryogenesis and migrate to the site that gonads are formed. A previous study indicated that nanos3 is specifically expressed in PGCs, and the 3' untranslated region (UTR) of nanos3 is responsible for the localization of mRNA in these cells. In this study, we aimed to investigate the functional regions of nanos3 3'UTR in olive flounder using truncated and mutated nanos3 3'UTRs fused to chimeric RNAs and microinjected into fertilized zebrafish eggs. The results indicated that a 68-bp functional element in the nanos3 3'UTR of olive flounder played important roles in the protection and degradation of RNA. Within this element, a U-rich region was identified to be responsible for the protection of RNA in PGCs and two GCAC sites for the degradation of RNA in somatic cells. The first GCAC was located adjacently to the U-rich region and the second GCAC within the U-rich region. Overall, we concluded that the two GCACs were the binding sites of miR-430, a microRNA that suppresses translation, whereas the U-rich region was the binding site of Dnd, a protein that antagonizes the miR-430-mediated silencing of mRNA.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, National & Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Ecological Mariculture, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: Meijie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, National & Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Ecological Mariculture, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China. Electronic address: tanx@qdio.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Xungang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, National & Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Ecological Mariculture, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: Yulei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sui
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, National & Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Ecological Mariculture, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, National & Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Ecological Mariculture, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: Zhihao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Experimental Marine Biology, National & Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of Ecological Mariculture, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: You
mesh_terms: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D019295:Computational Biology; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D005260:Female; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005432:Flounder / Q000235:genetics*; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D020871:RNA Stability; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D029941:Fish Proteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins
keywords: Chimeric RNA; GCAC site; Germ plasm; Microinjection; U-rich regions