Zimmerer E J, Threlkeld L
Department of Biological Sciences, Murray State University, Kentucky 42071, USA.
Biochem Genet. 1995 Aug;33(7-8):227-35.
ZFY-like genes have been observed in a variety of vertebrate species. Although originally implicated as the primary testis-determining gene in humans and other placental mammals, more recent evidence indicates a role(s) outside that of testis determination. In this study, DNA from five species of fish, Carasius auratus, Rivulus marmoratus, Xiphophorus maculatus, X. milleri, and X. nigrensis was subjected to Southern blot analysis using a PCR-amplified fragment of mouse ZFY-like sequence as a probe. Restriction fragment patterns were not polymorphic between sexes in any one species but showed a different pattern for each species. With one exception, Rivulus, a 3.1-kb band from the EcoRI digestion was common to all. Sequence and open reading frame analysis of this fragment showed a strong homology to other known vertebrate ZFY-like genes. Of particular interest in this gene is a novel third finger domain similar to one human and one alligator ZFY-like gene. Our studies and others provide evidence for a family of vertebrate ZFY genes, with those having this novel third finger being representative of the ancestral condition.
在多种脊椎动物物种中都观察到了类ZFY基因。尽管最初认为它是人类和其他胎盘哺乳动物中主要的睾丸决定基因，但最近的证据表明其作用超出了睾丸决定的范畴。在本研究中，使用小鼠类ZFY序列的PCR扩增片段作为探针，对鲫鱼、食蚊鱼、剑尾鱼、米勒剑尾鱼和黑剑尾鱼这五种鱼类的DNA进行了Southern印迹分析。在任何一个物种中，限制性片段模式在两性之间都没有多态性，但每个物种都显示出不同的模式。除了食蚊鱼外，EcoRI消化产生的一条3.1 kb条带在所有物种中都很常见。对该片段的序列和开放阅读框分析表明，它与其他已知的脊椎动物类ZFY基因具有高度同源性。该基因特别有趣的是一个类似于一个人类和一个短吻鳄类ZFY基因的新型第三指结构域。我们的研究以及其他研究为脊椎动物ZFY基因家族提供了证据，具有这种新型第三指的基因代表了祖先状态。
