Evolutionary and genomic analyses of cee, a novel but ancient gene involved in development

摘要

BackgroundUnlike mammals, teleost fish have the ability to increase their number of fast muscle fibres throughout juvenile and adult stages, until they reach a predetermined body size [1].Since the molecular basis of this phenomenon is poorly understood, we have recently performed a suppression subtractive hybridisation screen to identify novel genes associated with the inhibition of myotube production in the fast myotomal muscle of the model pufferfish (Takifugu rubripes). One of these genes turned out to be particularly interesting, as it was specifically upregulated in fast muscle of fish that had stopped recruiting muscle fibres[2]. This gene, originally termed FRC386, was subsequently re-named as cee, for conserved edge expressed protein.