Cloning and Sequence Analysis of Genes Involved in Cell Apopotsis of Rare Minnow (Gobiocypris rasus)
稀有鮈鲫细胞凋亡相关基因的克隆及序列分析

Apoptosis is important for regulating development and maintaining homeostasis of the organism. The partial cDNA sequences of bcl-2, apaf-1, caspase-3 and caspase-9, which are involved in cell apoptosis, were cloned and sequenced from the liver of Gobiocypris rasus. Sequence analysis showed that the caspase-3 and caspase-9 genes shared the highest sequence affinity with the nucleotide sequences of Tanichthys albonubes, whereas bcl-2 and apaf-1 genes showed the highest sequence affinity with those of Gobio gobio (99%) and Cyprinus carpio (89%), respectively. The phylogenetic trees were developed based on the caspase-3 nucleotide sequences of Gobiocypris rarus and other known species, which showed the closest genetic relationship among Gobiocypris rarus, Tanichthys albonubes and Danio rerio, while Sparus aurata and Takifugu rubripes had a distant genetic relationship. The present study offered scientific information not only for discovering toxicological mechanism and assessing ecological health risk of aquatic xenobiotics, but also for classification and evolutionary status of Gobiocypris rarus at molecular level.