Abstract
Intermuscular bones (IBs) are only found in the muscles of fish. Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (bmp2) is considered to be the most active single osteogenesis factor. It promotes cell proliferation and differentiation during bone repair, as well as inducing the formation of bones and cartilages in vivo. However, detailed investigations of this family in fish are incredibly limited. Here, we have used a variety of published and unpublished bmp2 sequences for teleosts and cartilage fish in order to explore and expand our understanding of bmp2 genes in fish. Our results confirmed that teleost genomes contain two or more bmp2 genes, and the diversity of bmp2 genes in vertebrates appears to be as a result of a combination of whole genome duplication (WGD) and gene loss. Differences were also observed in tissue distribution and relative transcription abundance of the bmp2s through a transcriptomic analysis. Our data also indicated that bmp2b may play an important role in the formation of IBs in teleosts. In addition, protein sequence alignments and 3D structural predictions of bmp2a and bmp2b supported their similar roles in fishes. To summarize, our existing work provided novel insights into the bmp2 family genes in fishes through a mixture of comparative genomic and transcriptomic analysis.
Highlights
Most aquaculture freshwater fish, in particular the cyprinidae species, contain a specific amount of intermuscular bones (IBs) which are hard-boned spicules that can be found in the muscle tissue on both sides of the vertebrae [1]
Through the analysis of the expression levels of bmp2a and bmp2b in various teleost tissues, we discovered that bmp2b is expressed mostly in the IB, ribs, and fins of the Nile tilapia and bmp2a is expressed mostly in the spleen, muscle, and heart of the Nile tilapia, which is consistent with previous studies of zebrafish [22,24,43]
Our results suggested that bmp2b is preferentially expressed in fishbone-related tissue, while bmp2a is mainly expressed in peripheral tissues
Summary
In particular the cyprinidae species, contain a specific amount of IBs which are hard-boned spicules that can be found in the muscle tissue on both sides of the vertebrae [1]. IBs are only present in the myosepta of lower teleosts, and these are viewed as ossified myoseptal tendons which develop directly from mesenchymal condensation [2]. The presence of IBs influences the farming and processing of teleosts, to some degree, as well as decreasing the economic value and edibleness of the species, due to the fact that they are difficult to remove [6]. A very small amount of detailed research has been conducted and little information is known in relation to the molecular mechanism for the development of IBs
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