Molecular cloning and its expression of trachealess gene (As-trh) during development in brine shrimp, Artemia sinica.

Basic helix-loop-helix-PAS (bHLH-PAS) family transcription factors are implicated in multiple developmental and physiological regulatory processes. Herein, a full-length cDNA encoding a bHLH-PAS domain transcription factor trachealess gene (designated as As-trh) was cloned and characterized from brine shrimp (Artemia sinica) for the first time. The full-length cDNA of As-trh was 2,698 bp with a 2,319 bp open reading frame encoding a deduced protein of 772 amino acid polypeptide with a calculated molecular mass of 86.02 kDa and an isoelectric point of 5.87. Sequence alignment revealed that As-trh had high homology with other species trh gene, including the D-trh gene in Drosophila melanogaster and Bm-trh in Bombyx mori. The early and persistent expression of As-trh in the naupliar stages by whole-mount embryonic in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry suggest that As-trh functions very early in the salt gland and may be required continuously in this tissue. Later in development, expression of As-trh begins to decrease and disappear in salt gland of the older nauplius and appears in the thoracic epipods of the sub-adult Artemia. These results indicated that As-trh might play an important role in osmoregulatiory organ development from the larvae stages through adult stages.