摘要
Smad family proteins are identified as intracellular signal mediators of the TGF-β superfamily.In this study,we identified two novel members of the Smad family,termed as AmphiSmad1/5/8 and AmphiSmad4,from Chinese amphioxus.Both AmphiSmad1/5/8 and AmphiSmad4 showed a typical domain structure of Smad proteins consisting of conserved MH1 and MH2 domains.Phylogenetic analysis placed AmphiSmad1/5/8 in the Smad1,5 and 8 subgroup of the R-Smad subfamily,and AmphiSmad4 in the Co-Smad subfamily.The spatial and temporal gene expression patterns of AmphiSmad1/5/8 and AmphiSmad4 showed that they may be involved in the embryonic development of notochord,myotome and alimentary canal,and may help to establish the specification of dorsal-ventral axis of amphioxus.Moreover,AmphiSmad1/5/8 and AmphiSmad4 showed extensive distribution in all adult tissues examined,suggesting that these two genes may play important roles in the morphogenesis of a variety of tissues especially notochord and gonad.
Smad family proteins are identified as intracellular signal mediators of the TGF-β superfamily.In this study,we identified two novel members of the Smad family,termed as AmphiSmad1/5/8 and AmphiSmad4,from Chinese amphioxus.Both AmphiSmad1/5/8 and AmphiSmad4 showed a typical domain structure of Smad proteins consisting of conserved MH1 and MH2 domains.Phylogenetic analysis placed AmphiSmad1/5/8 in the Smad1,5 and 8 subgroup of the R-Smad subfamily,and AmphiSmad4 in the Co-Smad subfamily.The spatial and temporal gene expression patterns of AmphiSmad1/5/8 and AmphiSmad4 showed that they may be involved in the embryonic development of notochord,myotome and alimentary canal,and may help to establish the specification of dorsal-ventral axis of amphioxus.Moreover,AmphiSmad1/5/8 and AmphiSmad4 showed extensive distribution in all adult tissues examined,suggesting that these two genes may play important roles in the morphogenesis of a variety of tissues especially notochord and gonad.
基金
supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No. 2007CB815800)
the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(Grant No. 2006330004104456)
the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos. 30300264,30270693 and 30570967)
