PUBLICATION

Gonadotropin hormone and receptor sequences from model teleost species

Authors
Wong, A.C., and Van Eenennaam, A.L.
ID
ZDB-PUB-050125-1
Date
2004
Source
Zebrafish   1(3): 203-221 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Van Eenennaam, Alison L., Wong, Andrew C.
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
none
PubMed
18248232 Full text @ Zebrafish
Abstract
Fish offer some advantages for the study of vertebrate reproductive physiology. Only a few of the genes encoding the components of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis have been identified from model teleosts. This study describes a combination of database searching and molecular approaches to identify the FSH and LH gonadotropin beta-subunits (fshb and lhb, respectively), and the LH receptor (lhr) from two model teleost species: zebrafish (Danio rerio) and Fugu (Takifugu rubripes). Sequence and phylogenetic analyses were used to examine the relationships that exist between gonadotropins and their receptors from species representing several piscine orders. The gonadotropin alpha-subunit (Cga) is highly conserved among teleosts and tetrapods. The presence of a genomic pseudogene (cgap) was also noted in zebrafish. Generally, teleostean FSH(beta) protein sequences share less identity with each other than do LH(beta) protein sequences, supporting the hypothesis that FSH(beta) diverged more rapidly during teleost evolution. Interestingly, and uniquely, zebrafish Fshb lacked two highly conserved cysteine residues in the "determinant loop" which is thought to contribute towards receptor binding and specificity. Teleost gonadotropin receptor sequences clearly diverged into two distinct groups, FSHR and LHR. As has been seen with mammalian gonadotropin receptor transcripts, splice variants of zebrafish lhr were also observed.
Genes / Markers
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Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping