Wang Yong, Chen Keping, Yao Qin, Zheng Xiaodong, Yang Zhe
Department of Biotechnology, School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, 212013, People's Republic of China.
J Mol Evol. 2009 Jun;68(6):629-40. doi: 10.1007/s00239-009-9232-7. Epub 2009 May 16.
The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins play important regulatory roles in eukaryotic developmental processes including neurogenesis, myogenesis, hematopoiesis, sex determination, and gut development. Zebrafish is a good model organism for developmental biology. In this study, we identified 139 bHLH genes encoded in the zebrafish genome. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that zebrafish has 58, 29, 21, 5, 19, and 5 bHLH members in groups A, B, C, D, E, and F, respectively, while 2 members were classified as "orphan." A comparison between zebrafish and human bHLH repertoires suggested that both organisms have a certain number of specific bHLH members. Eight zebrafish bHLH genes were found to have multiple coding regions in the genome. Two of these, Bmal1 and MITF, are good anchor genes for identification of fish-specific whole-genome duplication events in comparison with mouse and chicken genomes. The present study provides useful information for future studies on gene family evolution and vertebrate development.
基本螺旋-环-螺旋（bHLH）蛋白在包括神经发生、肌发生、造血、性别决定和肠道发育在内的真核生物发育过程中发挥着重要的调节作用。斑马鱼是发育生物学研究的良好模式生物。在本研究中，我们鉴定出斑马鱼基因组中编码的139个bHLH基因。系统发育分析表明，斑马鱼在A、B、C、D、E和F组中分别有58、29、21、5、19和5个bHLH成员，而2个成员被归类为“孤儿”。斑马鱼和人类bHLH基因库的比较表明，这两种生物都有一定数量的特定bHLH成员。在基因组中发现8个斑马鱼bHLH基因具有多个编码区。其中两个基因，即Bmal1和MITF，与小鼠和鸡的基因组相比，是鉴定鱼类特异性全基因组复制事件的良好锚定基因。本研究为未来基因家族进化和脊椎动物发育的研究提供了有用的信息。
