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ABSTRACT

We determined the nucleotide sequences of cDNAs encoding precursors of vasotocin (VT) from two cyclostomes, the lamprey Lampetra japonica and the hagfish Eptatretus burgeri, for estimation of their phylogenetic relationships. Although only 47% similarity was found between the VT cDNAs, the predicted VT precursors of the lamprey and the hagfish were both composed of a signal peptide, VT, Gly-Lys-Arg and a neurophysin, as has been shown for precursors of vasopressin (VP) family hormones, including VP, VT and molluscan conopressin.

The central region of the lamprey neurophysin was very similar to those of previously characterized gnathostome neurophysins. Conspicuously, all the positions of 14 Cys residues were conserved in the lamprey neurophysin. The C-terminal region did not have a distinctive Leu-rich core segment, which is always found in the glycopeptide (copeptin) moiety of VP precursors. In contrast, the hagfish neurophysin showed at least two insertions and one deletion in the conserved central region including 14 Cys residues, but contained a potential N-linked glycosylation site and had a high proportion of Leu residues in the C-terminal region, like the neurophysin of another hagfish, Eptatretus stouti.

The evolutionary relationships of the precursors of VP family hormones among the lamprey, hagfish, gnathostomes and a mollusc were estimated by a maximum likelihood method. The phylogenetic tree with the highest bootstrap probability showed that the lamprey VT precursor is more closely related to the gnathostome VT and VP precursors than to the hagfish VT precursors.

ABSTRACT

Salmon gonadotropin-releasing hormone (sGnRH) is considered to have an important role in the control of reproduction in salmonid fish. As a basis for understanding the physiological functioning of sGnRH at the molecular level, we characterized the nucleotide sequences of two types of cDNAs encoding the precursors of sGnRH in sockeye salmon (ss), Oncorhynchus nerka, by a cloning strategy based on reverse transcription-PCR. The two types of cDNAs are referred to as ss-pro-sGnRH-I and -II, and consisted of 435 and 481 bases respectively. Both precursors are predicted to contain a signal peptide, the hormone and a GnRH-associated peptide that is attached to the hormone via a Gly-Lys-Arg sequence. The presence of two types of mRNAs hybridizing with either cDNA was confirmed by Northern blot analysis of brain RNA from sockeye salmon, masu salmon, O. masou, and rainbow trout, O. mykiss. The ss-pro-sGnRH-I cDNA had 97·2% and 82·8% overall identity with sGnRH cDNA from masu salmon and putative sGnRH cDNA deduced from the gene of the Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar respectively, whereas the ss-pro-sGnRH-II cDNA had 80·0% and 91·2% overall identity with the former and the latter respectively. The nucleotide sequences of ss-sGnRH-I and -II cDNAs showed less similarity (79·3%). These results indicated that each salmonid species possesses two differing sGnRH genes. The results of Southern blot analysis using genomic DNA extracted from individuals support this evidence in sockeye salmon, masu salmon and rainbow trout.

ABSTRACT

A cDNA expression library was constructed from poly(A)⁺ RNA of broiler chicken adenohypophyses using λ gt11 as a vector. After screening with a rabbit antiserum against chicken LH, a cDNA clone (L12) containing a 436 bp insert was obtained. Using a subclone of L12 in pUC19 (pL12) as the hybridization probe, another cDNA clone (LF127) with a 533 bp insert was isolated. The LF127 contained the full-length cDNA encoding the putative chicken LH-β subunit precursor molecule. Hybridization of the pL12 cDNA insert to adenohypophysial RNA showed that chicken and Japanese quail adenohypophyses contained RNA species of about 0·8 and 1·0 kb respectively. The amount of this RNA species was ten times higher in adult male quails kept under long days at room temperature than in those kept under short days at 7 °C. In-situ hybridization experiments showed the exclusive distribution of the signal in the LH cells of the adenohypophysis. The similarity of the nucleotide sequence of the apoprotein-coding region of LH-β cDNA of the chicken to that of mammals is lower than that among mammals. The deduced amino acid sequence of the chicken LH-β subunit supports the hypothesis that the number of proline residues increases in the LH-β subunit the closer phylogenetically the vertebrate is to mammals.