Abstract
The Sox transcription factor family is characterized with the presence of a Sry-related high-mobility group (HMG) box and plays important roles in various biological processes in animals, including sex determination and differentiation, and the development of multiple organs. In this study, 27 Sox genes were identified in the genome of the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), and were classified into seven groups. The members of each group of the tilapia Sox genes exhibited a relatively conserved exon-intron structure. Comparative analysis showed that the Sox gene family has undergone an expansion in tilapia and other teleost fishes following their whole genome duplication, and group K only exists in teleosts. Transcriptome-based analysis demonstrated that most of the tilapia Sox genes presented stage-specific and/or sex-dimorphic expressions during gonadal development, and six of the group B Sox genes were specifically expressed in the adult brain. Our results provide a better understanding of gene structure and spatio-temporal expression of the Sox gene family in tilapia, and will be useful for further deciphering the roles of the Sox genes during sex determination and gonadal development in teleosts.
Highlights
Sox transcriptional factors are characterized as Sry-related high-mobility group (HMG) box proteins in metazoans
A genome-wide comparative analysis of the Sox gene family between the tilapia and other animals including other teleost fishes will be helpful for deciphering the evolutionary process of this gene family
We used the amino acids sequence of conserved HMG-box domain of Sox transcription factors as query to search against the tilapia genome by a basic local alignment search tool (BLAST)
Summary
Sox transcriptional factors are characterized as Sry-related high-mobility group (HMG) box proteins in metazoans. With the availability of whole genome sequence, genome-wide characterization of Sox genes has been performed in several animals [1,2,3,4,5], and in total more than 40 members of the Sox family have been identified. Based on the sequences of both DNA and proteins, Sox gene family is currently divided into 11 groups from A to K [2,5,6]. A genome-wide comparative analysis of the Sox gene family between the tilapia and other animals including other teleost fishes will be helpful for deciphering the evolutionary process of this gene family
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