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Analysis on cDNA sequence, mRNA expression and imprinting status of Dlk1 gene in goats

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Abstract

Dlk1 (Delta-like homolog 1) is a cell surface transmembrane glycoprotein belonging to the epidermal growth factor like family of homeotic proteins and plays an important role in regulating fetal and postnatal development. Increased expression of Dlk1 is the primary cause of muscle hypertrophy in the callipyge sheep exhibiting overgrowth of fast-twitch muscles and reduced adiposity. However, the function of Dlk1 in goats remains unknown. In this study, a fragment of 864 bp of goat Dlk1 cDNA, encoding 287 amino acids, was amplified, which has a high homology both in nucleotide sequence and amino acid sequence with the corresponding region of pig, cattle and sheep Dlk1. The Dlk1 was found to be expressed in most tissues of goat fetuses, and in the adrenal gland, pancreas and thymus of adult goats. Two alternative transcripts of Dlk1-C and Dlk1-C2 were expressed in both fetuses and adult goats. One C/T transition in the coding region of goat Dlk1 was identified and by genotyping one segregating goat family and the expressed allele in the tissues of the offspring, Dlk1 was found to be paternally expressed.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863) (Grant number: 2007AA10Z153).

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Correspondence to Yunliang Jiang.

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Cao, G., Zhang, Y., Wang, J. et al. Analysis on cDNA sequence, mRNA expression and imprinting status of Dlk1 gene in goats. Mol Biol Rep 37, 2259–2264 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9714-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-009-9714-0

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