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Newt RAD51 : Cloning of cDNA and analysis of gene expression during spermatogenesis
Author(s) -
Yamamoto Takashi,
Hikino Taketoshi,
Nakayama Yuki,
Abé ShinIchi
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
development, growth and differentiation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.864
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1440-169X
pISSN - 0012-1592
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-169x.1999.00441.x
Subject(s) - complementary dna , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , northern blot , spermatogenesis , cdna library , rapid amplification of cdna ends , messenger rna , rad51 , in situ hybridization , xenopus , meiosis , gene , homologous recombination , molecular cloning , genetics , endocrinology
A cDNA encoding a newt homolog of Escherichia coli RecA and yeast RAD51 from a testis cDNA library was isolated. The newt RAD51 ( nRAD51 ) cDNA predicted a 337 amino acid protein with a 95–96% amino acid identity to Xenopus and mammalian RAD51. Northern blot analysis showed that nRAD51 mRNA, 1.7 kb in length, was expressed strongly in the testis and ovary, but weakly in the liver, kidney and brain. In situ hybridization revealed that expression of nRAD51 mRNA was barely observed in primary spermatogonia (one cell in a cyst) and early secondary spermatogonia (two to four cells in a cyst), but increased in late secondary spermatogonia (≥ eight cells in a cyst), reaching a maximum level in leptotene–zygotene spermatocytes, and thereafter declined. These results suggest that nRAD51 is involved in mitotic recombination in spermatogonia as well as in meiotic recombination in spermatocytes.