Glyoxalase 1 gene of Coilia nasus: molecular characterization and differential expression during transport stress

The estuarine tapertail anchovy Coilia nasus is a widely distributed and commercially important aquaculture species. It responds strongly to stresses, such as netting, loading, and transport, which inevitably always induces tissue injury or even death. The glyoxalase 1 gene ( Glo1 ) is very important in many physiological processes and diseases. To understand how transport induces changes in Glo1 expression, we cloned the C. nasus Glo1 gene ( CnGlo1 ). Its full-length cDNA is 1033 bp, with a 549-bp open reading frame, which encodes a 182-amino acid protein. CnGlo1 is predicted to contain a typical glyoxalase domain (amino acids 26–169). CnGlo1 mRNA is expressed ubiquitously, but more strongly in the brain, liver, heart, head kidney, and gill than in the kidney, intestine, muscle, and spleen. Results of the reverse transcription–quantitative PCR analysis of the tissues of stressed fish revealed a 2.5- to 16.1-fold increase in CnGlo1 expression in the liver and a 2.0- to 4.8-fold increase in the brain. Protein expression was determined with western blotting, and the expression pattern was similar to that of the mRNA. Here, we report the molecular cloning, sequencing, and differential expression of the CnGlo1 gene and the effects of stress on CnGlo1 expression.