Alternative Splicing of the Amelogenin Gene in a Caudate Amphibian, Plethodon cinereus. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • As the major enamel matrix protein contributing to tooth development, amelogenin has been demonstrated to play a crucial role in tooth enamel formation. Previous studies have revealed amelogenin alternative splicing as a mechanism for amelogenin heterogeneous expression in mammals. While amelogenin and its splicing forms in mammalian vertebrates have been characterized, splicing variants of amelogenin gene still remains largely unknown in non-mammalian species. Here, using PCR and sequence analysis we discovered two novel amelogenin transcript variants in tooth organ extracts from a caudate amphibian, the salamander Plethodoncinereus. The one was shorter -S- (416 nucleotides including untranslated regions, 5 exons) and the other larger -L- (851 nt, 7 exons) than the previously published "normal" gene in this species -M- (812 nucleotides, 6 exons). This is the first report demonstrating the amelogenin alternative splicing in amphibian, revealing a unique exon 2b and two novel amelogenin gene transcripts in Plethodoncinereus.

published proceedings

  • PLoS One

altmetric score

  • 0.5

author list (cited authors)

  • Wang, X., Xing, Z., Zhang, X., Zhu, L., & Diekwisch, T.

citation count

  • 1

complete list of authors

  • Wang, Xinping||Xing, Zeli||Zhang, Xichen||Zhu, Lisai||Diekwisch, Thomas GH

editor list (cited editors)

  • Robinson-Rechavi, M.

publication date

  • June 2013