Cloning, characterization, and expression of Cytochrome b (Cytb)—a key mitochondrial gene from Prorocentrum donghaiense

Mitochondrial cytochrome b (Cytb), one of the few proteins encoded by the mitochondrial DNA, plays an important role in transferring electrons. As a mitochondrial gene, it has been widely used for phylogenetic analysis. Previously, a 949-bp fragment of the coding gene and mRNA editing were characterized from Prorocentrum donghaiense, which might prove useful for resolving P. donghaiense from closely related species. However, the full-length coding region has not been characterized. In this study, we used rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) to obtain full-length, 1 124 bp cDNA. Cytb transcript contained a standard initiation codon ATG, but did not have a recognizable stop codon. Homology comparison showed that the P. donghaiense Cytb had a high sequence identity to Cytb sequences from other dinoflagellate species. Phylogenetic analysis placed Cytb from P. donghaiense in the clade of dinoflagellates and it clustered together strongly with that from P. minimum. Based on the full-length sequence, we inferred 32 editing events at different positions, accounting for 2.93% of the Cytb gene. 34.4% (11) of the changes were A to G, 25% (8) were T to C, and 25% (8) were C to U, with smaller proportions of G to C and G to A edits (9.4% (3) and 6.2% (2), respectively). The expression level of the Cytb transcript was quantified by real-time PCR with a TaqMan probe at different times during the whole growth phase. The average Cytb transcript was present at 39.27±7.46 copies of cDNA per cell during the whole growth cycle, and the expression of Cytb was relatively stable over the different phases. These results deepen our understanding of the structure and characteristics of Cytb in P. donghaiense, and confirmed that Cytb in P. donghaiense is a candidate reference gene for studying the expression of other genes.