cDNA cloning and expression analysis of the myosin heavy chain (MYH) gene of the mandarin fish Siniperca kneri

In this study, we applied RT-PCR and cDNA cloning techniques to clone myosin heavy chain (MYH) cDNA from muscle tissues of the mandarin fish Siniperca kneri. The cDNA was determined to be of 6987 base pairs in length, encoding a peptide of 1937 amino acids (Genbank accession no. EF446616). A search of encoded protein sequences in the NCBI conserved domain database indicated the presence of all known protein domains for MYH proteins, i.e. the myosin motor domain in the N-terminal region, the DIL domain at the C-terminus, and the ATPase domain. The MYH gene and its protein were expressed predominantly in muscle tissues and weakly in cardiac tissues. Developmentally, the MYH gene was first expressed in the muscle formation stage and continued later on. Our work provided a novel mypsin heavy chain gene sequence in fish biology and the results indicate that the MYH gene and the protein it encodes are important for the growth and development of the mandarin fish, as well as its muscle characterization.