The Divergent and Conserved Expression Profile of Turtle <i>Nanog</i> Gene Comparing with Fish and Mammals
Kaili Chen,
Jianfei Xu,
Wenzhuo Ban,
Jiaming Tian,
Zhiming Tan,
Zhoukai Tang,
Luo Lei,
Wei Li,
Xinping Zhu,
Hongyan Xu
Affiliations
Kaili Chen
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Aquatic Sciences of Chongqing, College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Chongqing 402460, China
Jianfei Xu
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Aquatic Sciences of Chongqing, College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Chongqing 402460, China
Wenzhuo Ban
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Aquatic Sciences of Chongqing, College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Chongqing 402460, China
Jiaming Tian
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Aquatic Sciences of Chongqing, College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Chongqing 402460, China
Zhiming Tan
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Aquatic Sciences of Chongqing, College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Chongqing 402460, China
Zhoukai Tang
Key Laboratory of Tropical & Subtropical Fishery Resource Application & Cultivation of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510380, China
Luo Lei
Key Laboratory of Tropical & Subtropical Fishery Resource Application & Cultivation of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510380, China
Wei Li
Key Laboratory of Tropical & Subtropical Fishery Resource Application & Cultivation of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510380, China
Xinping Zhu
Key Laboratory of Tropical & Subtropical Fishery Resource Application & Cultivation of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Guangzhou 510380, China
Hongyan Xu
Key Laboratory of Freshwater Fish Reproduction and Development, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Aquatic Sciences of Chongqing, College of Fisheries, Southwest University, Chongqing 402460, China
Nanog is a homeodomain-containing transcription factor, and it plays a vital role in maintaining the pluripotency of embryonic stem cells. Nanog’s function has been well studied in many species. However, there is lack of reporting on the Nanog gene in reptile. Here, we identified a 1032 bp cDNA sequence of a Nanog gene in Pelidiscus sinensis, known as PsNanog. PsNanog has a highly conserved HD domain and shares a high identity with that of Chelonia mydas and the lowest identity with Oryzias latipes. Similarly, PsNanog presented a tight cluster with C. mydas Nanog, but was far from those of teleosts. Additionally, we cloned a length of 1870 bp PsNanog promoter. Dual luciferase assay showed that the DNA fragment of −1560 to +1 exhibited a high promoter activity. The RT-PCR and RT-qPCR results showed that PsNanog was predominantly expressed in ovary, and then in testis. The in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analysis showed that PsNanog was expressed in the early primary oocytes and the cytoplasm of the cortical region of stage VIII oocytes in ovary, and distributed in most stages of germ cells in testis. Collectively, the results imply that PsNanog probably has the conserved function in regulating germ cell development across phyla and is also a pluripotent cell gene and expressed in germ cells, which is similar to that in teleosts and mammals.
