Cloning and Characterization of BTG-1 Gene from Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea gigas)

BTG 1 (B-cell translocation gene 1) gene was first identified as a translocation gene in a case of B-cell chronic lympocytic leukemia. BTG1 is a member of the BTG/TOB family with sharing a conserved N-terminal region, which shows anti-proliferation properties and is able to stimulate cell differentiation. In this study, we identified and characterized the pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas BTG1 (cg-BTG1) gene from the gill cDNA library by an Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) analysis and its nucleotide sequence was determined. The cg-BTG1 gene encodes a predicted protein of 182 amino acids with 57% 56% identities to its zebrafish and human counterparts, and is an intron-less gene, which was confirmed by PCR analysis of genomic DNA. Maximal homologies were shown in conserved Box A and B. The deduced amino acid sequence shares high identity with other BTG1 genes of human, rat, mouse and zebrafish. The phylogenic analysis and sequence comparison of cg-BTG1 with other BTG1 were found to be closely related to the BTG1 gene structure. In addition, the predicted promoter region and the different transcription-factor binding site like an activator protein-1 (AP-1) response element involved in negative regulation and serum response element (SRE) were able to be identified by the genomic DNA walking experiment. The quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that the mRNA of cg-BTG1 gene was expressed in gill, heart, digestive gland, intestine, stomach and mantle. The cg-BTG1 gene was expressed mainly in heart and mantle.