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The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 1511-1521 (2003)
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00283

Evolution of glutamine synthetase in vertebrates: multiple glutamine synthetase genes expressed in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Brent W. Murray^1,*, Ellen R. Busby², Thomas P. Mommsen² and Patricia A. Wright^1,

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada
² Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, PO Box 3055, Victoria, BC V8W 3P6, Canada
^* Present address: Biology Program, College of Science and Management, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada V2N 4Z9

Author for correspondence (e-mail: patwrigh{at}uoguelph.ca)

Accepted 10 January 2003

Glutamine synthetase (GSase) is a key enzyme in nitrogen metabolism and encoded by a single gene in mammals. Using PCR cloning techniques, including RT-PCR from total RNA and PCR from a cDNA library, we find evidence of four expressed GSase mRNAs for the tetraploid rainbow trout. For two of these mRNAs (Onmy-GS01, -GS02) we characterize the full-length coding regions, and for two others (Onmy-GS03, -GS04), we describe partial sequences. Northern analysis of Onmy-GS01, -GS02, -GS03 and -GS04 indicates that (1) Onmy-GS02 is expressed at higher levels relative to the other transcripts in most adult tissues, with the exception of brain and gill, where Onmy-GS01 is at the highest level, and (2) the tissue with the highest level of expression of all four transcripts is the brain, with decreasing levels in the intestine, liver, red muscle, gill/kidney, white muscle and heart. Clearly, rainbow trout possess multiple GSase genes with differing levels of tissue expression, implying manifold potential routes of regulation for this octameric enzyme. Our data also indicate that caution should be taken when interpreting mRNA expression data of a single gene, unless multiple genes have been ruled out. Consistent with a southern blot, phylogenetic and intron sequence analyses imply that the trout genes are encoded by at least four separate loci, belonging to two distinct evolutionary branches. Our data on rainbow trout, together with those from two full-length zebrafish Danio rerio GSase genes compiled from GenBank ESTs, support the idea that fish GSases are polyphyletic and that gene duplications have occurred at multiple points and in independent lineages throughout the evolution of bony fishes.

Key words: salmonid, L-glutamate:ammonia ligase, tetraploidization, zebrafish, Takifugu, brain, intestine, rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, ammonia, nitrogen, mRNA

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