Isolation and Identification of ACVR1 Gene and Its Expression Profile in Binglangjiang Buffalo

Purpose ACVR1, as one of the type I receptors of some members of TGF-β superfamily signaling pathways, plays an important role in the regulatory events such as organ formation, cell differentiation and follicle formation. Up to now, the studies on ACVR1 gene mainly focuses on human, and the research on this gene in water buffalo has not been reported yet.

MethodsIn this study, the coding region of ACVR1 gene of Binglangjiang buffalo was isolated and identified by RT-PCR method, and the gene was then subjected to analysis of functional bioinformatics and gene expression profiling.

ResultsThe full coding region of buffalo ACVR1 gene is 1 530 bp in length, which encodes a polypeptide consisting of 509 amino acid residues. Buffalo ACVR1 is a weakly hydrophilic protein containing a signal peptide and transmembrane region located on the plasma membrane. Structurally, buffalo ACVR1 contains three conserved domains of Activin_recp, TGF_beta_GS and STKc_ACVR1_ALK1. The secondary structure, three-dimensional structure of this protein are very similar to human ACVR1. The consistency of ACVR1 amino acid sequences between buffalo and 8 other common species such as cattle, wild yak, human and pig was\geqslant 99%. Among the 9 buffalo tissues assayed, the ACVR1 gene was expressed in the liver, spleen, kidney, rumen, ovary, uterus and testes with that the highest expression in the ovary and uterus.

ConclusionThe buffalo ACVR1 has similar amino acid composition and structural characteristics with that of other species. As one of type I receptor shared by BMP and AMH signaling pathway, ACVR1 may be involved in the regulation of buffalo cell differentiation and follicular formation.