PUBLICATION

The repertoire of olfactory C family G protein-coupled receptors in zebrafish: candidate chemosensory receptors for amino acids

Authors
Alioto, T.S., and Ngai, J.
ID
ZDB-PUB-061227-28
Date
2006
Source
BMC Genomics   7(1): 309 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Ngai, John
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Chromosome Mapping
  • Fishes/genetics
  • Genomics/methods
  • Mice
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Olfactory Receptor Neurons/physiology
  • Phylogeny
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Receptors, Amino Acid/chemistry
  • Receptors, Amino Acid/classification
  • Receptors, Amino Acid/genetics*
  • Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled/classification
  • Receptors, Odorant/chemistry
  • Receptors, Odorant/classification
  • Receptors, Odorant/genetics*
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Species Specificity
  • Takifugu/genetics
  • Zebrafish/genetics*
  • Zebrafish Proteins/chemistry
  • Zebrafish Proteins/classification
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics*
PubMed
17156446 Full text @ BMC Genomics
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Vertebrate odorant receptors comprise at least three types of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs): the OR, V1R, and V2R/V2R-like receptors, the latter group belonging to the C family of GPCRs. These receptor families are thought to receive chemosensory information from a wide spectrum of odorant and pheromonal cues that influence critical animal behaviors such as feeding, reproduction and other social interactions. RESULTS: Using genome database mining and other informatics approaches, we identified and characterized the repertoire of 54 intact V2R-like olfactory C family GPCRs in the zebrafish. Phylogenetic analysis - which also included a set of 34 C family GPCRs from fugu - places the fish olfactory receptors in three major groups, which are related to but clearly distinct from other C family GPCRs, including the calcium sensing receptor, metabotropic glutamate receptors, GABA-B receptor, T1R taste receptors, and the major group of V2R vomeronasal receptor families. Interestingly, an analysis of sequence conservation and selective pressure in the zebrafish receptors revealed the retention of a conserved sequence motif previously shown to be required for ligand binding in other amino acid receptors. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our findings, we propose that the repertoire of zebrafish olfactory C family GPCRs has evolved to allow the detection and discrimination of a spectrum of amino acid and/or amino acid-based compounds, which are potent olfactory cues in fish. Furthermore, as the major groups of fish receptors and mammalian V2R receptors appear to have diverged significantly from a common ancestral gene(s), these receptors likely mediate chemosensation of different classes of chemical structures by their respective organisms.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping