RESUMO
In the Southwest Atlantic, coral reefs are unique due to their growth form, low species richness, and a high level of endemic coral species, which include the most important reef builders. Although these reefs are the only true biogenic reefs in the South Atlantic Ocean, population genetic studies are still lacking. The purpose of this study was to develop a suite of microsatellite loci to help gain insights into the population diversity and connectivity of the endemic scleractinian coral with the largest distributional range along the Southwest Atlantic coast, Mussismilia hispida Fourteen microsatellite loci were characterized, and their degree of polymorphism was analyzed in 33 individuals. The number of alleles varied between 4 and 17 per loci, and H o varied between 0.156 and 0.928, with 2 loci showing significant heterozygote deficiency. Cross-amplification tests on the other 2 species of the genus (Mussismilia braziliensis and Mussismilia harttii) demonstrated that these markers are suitable for studies of population diversity and structure of all 3 species of Mussismilia Because they are the most important reef builders in the Southwest Atlantic, the developed microsatellite loci may be important tools for connectivity and conservation studies of these endemic corals.
Assuntos
Antozoários/genética , Variação Genética , Genética Populacional , Repetições de Microssatélites , Animais , Antozoários/classificação , Oceano Atlântico , Brasil , Marcadores GenéticosRESUMO
The hypoferremia that is observed during systemic inflammatory processes is mediated by hepcidin, which is a peptide that is mainly synthesized in the livers of several mammalian species. Hepcidin plays a key role in iron metabolism and in the innate immune system. It's up-regulation is particularly useful during acute inflammation, and it restricts the iron availability that is necessary for the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, the hepcidin mRNA of Equus asinus has been characterized, and the expression of donkey hepcidin in the liver has been determined. The donkey hepcidin sequence has an open reading frame (ORF) of 261 nucleotides, and the deduced corresponding protein sequence has 86 amino acids. The amino acid sequence of donkey hepcidin was most homologous to Equus caballus (98%). The mature donkey hepcidin sequence (25 amino acids) was 100% homologous to the equine mature hepcidin and has eight conserved cysteine residues that are found in all of the investigated hepcidin sequences. The expression profile of donkey hepcidin in the liver was high and was similar to the reference gene expression. The donkey hepcidin sequence was deposited in GenBankTM (HQ902884) and may be useful for additional studies on iron metabolism and the inflammatory process in this species.
A hipoferremia observada durante os processos inflamatórios sistêmicos é mediada pela hepcidina, um peptídeo que é sintetizado predominantemente no fígado de mamíferos. A hepcidina desempenha um papel chave no metabolismo do ferro e no sistema imune. O aumento da expressão da hepcidina é particularmente útil durante a inflamação aguda, pois restringe a disponibilidade de ferro, necessária para o crescimento de microorganismos patogênicos. Neste estudo, o RNA mensageiro da hepcidina asinina foi caracterizado e sua expressão foi determinada em fígado de jumentos (Equus asinus). A sequência da hepcidina asinina tem uma janela de leitura de 261 nucleotídeos e a proteína correspondente é formada por 86 aminoácidos. A sequência de aminoácidos da hepcidina asinina foi mais homóloga à sequência da hepcidina equina (98%). A hepcidina madura (25 aminoácidos) foi 100% idêntica à hepcidina madura equina e possuía as oito cisteínas conservadas nas demais sequências de hepcidinas analisadas. O perfil de expressão da hepcidina no fígado de jumentos saudáveis foi alto e similar ao perfil de expressão do gene de referência. A sequência da hepcidina asinina foi depositada no GenBankTM (HQ902884) e será útil para o desenvolvimento de estudos adicionais sobre o metabolismo de ferro e inflamação nesta espécie.
