title: Cloning and expression analysis of zygote arrest 1 (Zar1) in New Zealand white rabbits.
abstract: Zygote arrest 1 (Zar1) is an oocyte-specific maternal-effect gene. Previous studies indicate that Zar1 plays important role in early embryo development, but little is known about its function in rabbit. The objectives of this study were to clone the New Zealand white rabbit Zar1 gene and to investigate its expression in various organs in groups of animals with different reproductive traits.We obtained a 709-bp Zar1 cDNA fragment consisting of an 8-bp exon 1, 161-bp exon 2, 75-bp exon 3, 271-bp exon 4 and 194-bp 3'sequences. The rabbit Zar1 nucleotide sequence showed per cent identities of 91, 88, 88, 87, 86, 87, 76 and 82% with Zar1 orthologues in human, cattle, sheep, pig, mouse, rat, zebrafish and Xenopus laevis, respectively, indicating a high homology with other species and evolutionary conservation. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses revealed nonoocyte-specific Zar1 expression, with expression in spleen, lung, ovary, uterus, heart, liver and kidney. The expression level was highest in the lung. This study may lay the theoretical foundation for the study of ZAR1's biological function.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, No. 63 Agricultural Road, Zhengzhou 450002, People's Republic of China. 3351475136@qq.com.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shu-Yu
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Cai-Xia
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: An-Si
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xue-Lei
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Gui-Rong
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D019175:DNA Methylation; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004527:Egg Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression; D009928:Organ Specificity / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D011817:Rabbits; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004527:Egg Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger