斑马鱼p53基因结构比对分析及其在生态毒理学中的应用

斑马鱼p53基因由11个外显子和10个内含子组成,外显子1和外显子11部分序列不参与编码蛋白质．其 cDNA核苷酸序列共2089bp,包含一个1122 bp的开放阅读框(Open Reading Frame,ORF)(44 bp-1165 bp),这个 ORF编码373个氨基酸．另外在3’端有924 bp是非翻译区(3’-UTR),5’端同样也存在43 bp的非翻译区(5’- UTR);12种脊椎动物p53氨基酸序列的保守性分析结果表明,在一些特殊的区域,12种氨基酸序列表现出了很高的保守性,这些区域和p53的抑癌功能密切相关．研究结果预示斑马鱼p53基因是一种理想的环境致突变物研究分子模型,在生态毒理学研究中具有良好的应用前景．

Structure Alignments of Zebrafish p53 Gene and Its Application in Ecotoxicology

Zebrafish p53 gene structure and amino acid sequence conservation of twelve vertebrates were analyzed. The results showed that zebrafish p53 gene comprised 11 exons and 10 introns. Exon 1 and part of exon 11 encode untranslated region (UTR)of mRNA. The p53 cDNA was 2089 bp long containing an open reading frame (ORF)of 1122 bp. This ORF encoded a polypeptide with 373 amino acids. The 5'-UTR and 3'-UTR were 43 bp and 924 bp respectively. Protein sequence alignments of p53 gene among 12 vertebrates including human showed a remarkable conservation in several domains, which had been shown to be critical for p53 function. The research indicated that zebrafish p53 gene could be used as a molecular model to evaluate the genotoxicity of environmental chemicals in the future.