Fatty acid-binding protein (fabp) genes of spotted green pufferfish (Tetraodon nigroviridis): comparative genomics and spatial transcriptional regulation

The fatty acid-binding protein (fabp) genes belong to the multigene family of intracellular lipid-binding proteins. To date, 12 different FABPs have been identified in vertebrate genomes. Owing to the teleost-specific genome duplication event, many fishes have duplicated copies of the fabp genes. Here, we identified and characterized the fabp genes of spotted green pufferfish (Tetraodon nigroviridis). Seven fabp genes were identified, out of which, two were retained in the pufferfish genome as duplicated copies. Each putative pufferfish Fabp protein shares greatest sequence identity and similarity with their teleost and tetrapod orthologs, and clustered together as a distinct clade in phylogenetic analysis. Conserved gene synteny was evident between the pufferfish fabp genes and the orthologs of human, zebrafish, three-spined stickleback, and medaka FABP/fabp genes, providing evidence that the duplicated copies of pufferfish fabp genes most likely arose as a result of the teleost-specific genome duplication event. The differential tissue-specific distribution of pufferfish fabp transcripts suggests divergent spatial regulation of duplicated pairs of fabp genes.