Molecular characterization and expression of As-nurp1 gene from Artemia sinica during development and in response to salinity and temperature stress.

Nuclear protein 1 (NURP1) is a stress-related protein and closely related to diapause in the development of Artemia. In the present paper, the full-length 568-bp cDNA sequence of the nurp1 homolog of Artemia sinica (As-nurp1) was isolated by RACE technology for the first time. The putative As-nurp1 protein consists of 66 amino acids with a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) motif and a bipartite nuclear localization signal (NLS). Multiple sequence alignments revealed that the putative As-nurp1 protein sequence was relatively conserved across species, especially in the bHLH domain. The expression of As-nurp1 is widely distributed during A. sinica development. This is followed by a dramatic downregulation after diapause and is newly upregulated from the larval nauplius stage. Furthermore, As-nurp1 transcripts are highly upregulated under conditions of high salinity and low temperature. These findings suggest that As-nurp1 is stress-related and may act as a protective factor in embryonic development.