• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.325-335
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• 2012

The present study characterized the fast skeletal myosin light chain-2 gene (mlc2f) in the euryhaline Javanese ricefish (Oryzias javanicus: Beloniformes). Coding nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of Javanese ricefish mlc2f were well conserved in the vertebrate lineage. Javanese ricefish mlc2f showed a typical seven-exon structure, and its promoter exhibited transcription factor binding motifs common to most muscle-specific genes. However, Javanese ricefish mlc2f also displayed tandem duplications of intronic sequences in both intron 1 and intron 3. Based on quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, the mlc2f transcripts were highly predominant in skeletal muscles of adults and were differentially modulated during embryonic development. Microinjection of the mlc2f promoter-driven red fluorescent protein (RFP) reporter construct successfully exhibited heterologous expression of the fluorescent reporter, primarily in muscular areas of hatchlings, although the distribution pattern of RFP signals was not uniform due to the mosaic nature of the introduced transgene. Data from this study indicate that the Javanese ricefish mlc2f gene has undergone "intra-intronic" duplication events in a species-specific manner and that the mlc2f regulator may also be useful in heterologous expression assays of the skeletal muscles of this species.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.317-324
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• 2012

We characterized the cytoskeletal beta-actin (${\beta}$-ACT) gene (actb) and its 5'-upstream regulatory region in the Javanese ricefish Oryzias javanicus. The gene and protein structures were deduced from amino acid sequences of the actb gene and conserved in the teleost lineage. The O. javanicus actb gene has common transcription factor binding motifs in its regulatory region found in teleostean orthologues. Following quantitative reverse transcription-PCR, actb gene transcripts were detected in all tissues examined; however, the basal expression levels were different. During early development, O. javanicus actb mRNA levels showed a gradual increase and peaked between late somitogenesis and the heartbeat stage. Microinjection of O. javanicus embryos with the actb gene promoter-driven red fluorescent protein (RFP) gene reporter vector showed a ubiquitous distribution of RFP signals, although most exhibited a mosaic pattern of transgene expression. A small number of microinjected embryos displayed a wide distribution of RFP signals over their entire body, which resembled the expression pattern of endogenous actb. Data from this study provide a basis to develop a transgenic system with ubiquitous expression of foreign genes in O. javanicus.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.93-104
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• 2011

Two hepcidin paralogs (ojhamp1 and ojhamp2) were isolated and characterized from a euryhaline Javanese ricefish (Oryzias javanicus: Beloniformes). The ojhamp1 cDNA encoded 90 or 91 amino acids (aa) of a typical HAMP1 preproprotein. This preproprotein is believed to cleave and yield the 66 or 67 aa-proprotein, followed by the 26 aa-mature peptide, composed of 8 conserved cysteine residues and the QSHL amino terminal motif. The ojhamp2 cDNA encoded 89 aa of HAMP2 preproprotein, cleaved to yield a 65 aa proprotein, and subsequently the 25 aa-mature peptide. The mature OJHAMP1 possessed a cationic isoelectric point (pI), whereas OJHAMP2 had an anionic charge. At the genomic level, both ojhamp1 and ojhamp2 share a conserved tripartite structure (three exons interrupted by two introns) with other vertebrate hepcidin genes. However, the ojhamp1 was shown to exist as two distinct mRNA species, encoding 90 or 91 aa, due to alternative splicing at the junction site between intron I and exon II. Both ojhamp1 and ojhamp2 transcripts were detected in a wide range of tissue types with varying levels of basal expression, although the highest expression was observed in the liver for both isoforms. Transcriptional response to bacterial challenge using Edwardsiella tarda showed that ojhamp1 was moderately upregulated in the liver but remained unchanged in the kidney. However, the ojhamp2 was significantly suppressed in both the kidney and liver, suggesting a potential diversification between the two paralogs.