Cloning and Sequence Analysis of Genes Involved in Adult Neurogenesis of Rare Minnow (Gobiocypris rarus)

Key words: 
• Gobiocypris rarus /
• neurogenesis /
• clone /
• homology analysis /
• phylogenetic trees

Abstract: Adult neurogenesis is a widespread trait of vertebrates. The brain of the adult teleost fish exhibits intense neurogenic activity and outstanding capability for brain repair, which makes teleost fish a ideal model for the study of adult neurogenesis and brain regeneration. In this paper, we cloned the partial cDNA sequence of hes5, pax6, sox11, and prox1 from the brain of Gobiocypris rarus, which are involved in neurogenesis and brain regeneration, and analyzed the sequences. Sequence analysis showed that pax6 and sox11 genes shared the highest sequence affinity with genes of Danio rerio(97% and 94%, respectively); hes5 gene shared the highest sequence affinity with the gene of Cyprinus carpio (92%); prox1 gene shared the lowest sequence affinity among species. The phylogenetic trees were developed based on the nucleotide sequences of the corresponding genes of known species, which showed the fartherest phylogenetic relationship of rare minnow prox1 gene and other teleosts. In this paper, we provide a basic molecular biological basis for the further research on the mechanism of neurotoxicity of aquatic organisms.