RESUMO
We compared patterns of intraspecific polymorphism of two markers with contrasting modes of evolution, nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), in the lung fluke, diploid and triploid Paragonimus westermani from three geographical regions of Korea. The genetic distances between three populations of Korean diploid and triploid P. westermani showed no significant difference in the nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) and ribosomaal second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) genes. A highly resolved strict-consensus tree was obtained that illustrated phylogenetically useful information of the ITS2 and mtCOI sequences from diploid and triploid P. westermani.
Assuntos
Animais , DNA Mitocondrial/genética , DNA Espaçador Ribossômico/genética , Diploide , Complexo IV da Cadeia de Transporte de Elétrons/genética , Evolução Molecular , Genes de Helmintos/genética , Coreia (Geográfico) , Paragonimus/genética , Filogenia , PoliploidiaRESUMO
The zinc finger motifs (Cys2His2) are found in several proteins playing a role in the regulation of transcripton. SmZF1, a Schistosoma mansoni gene encoding a zinc finger protein was initially isolated from an adult worm cDNA library, as a partial cDNA. The full sequence of the gene was obtained by subcloning and sequencing cDNA and genomic fragments. The collated gene sequence is 2181 nt and the complete cDNA sequence is 705 bp containing the full open reading frame of the gene. Analysis of the genome sequence revealed the presence of three introns interrupting the coding region. The open reading frame theoretically encodes a protein of 164 amino acids, with a calculated molecular mass of 18,667Da. The predicted protein contains three zinc finger motifs, usually present in transcription regulatory proteins. PCR amplification with specific primers for the gene allowed for the detection of the target in egg, cercariae, schistosomulum and adult worm cDNA libraries indicating the expression of the mRNA in these life cycle stages of S. mansoni. This pattern of expression suggests the gene plays a role in vital functions of different life cycle stages of the parasite. Future research will be directed to elucidate the functional role of SmZF1