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a Laboratory of Nutritional Biochemistry, Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
b Faculty of Agriculture, Utsunomiya University, Mine-machi, Utsunomiya-shi, 321-8505, Japan
ABSTRACT
Retinoids have important effects on the development of the reproductive system, where they act via their specific nuclear receptors: retinoic acid receptors (RAR
, ß, 
) and retinoid X receptors (RXR, ß, ). The research reported here was conducted in an effort to clone quail RARß cDNA (qRARß) and to evaluate the expression of qRARß mRNAs in different tissues and during the development of gonadotropic organs. Two complete cDNAs of qRARß1 and qRARß2 were isolated by a combination of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and 5'- and 3'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends techniques. An RNase protection assay revealed the widespread expression of qRARß1 and ß2 with large tissue-specific variations. The qRARß1 isoform was predominant in the testis, whereas qRARß2 was dominant in the other tissues examined with the exception of the brain, where both isoforms were almost equally expressed. In the developing testes, the qRARß1 mRNA level was high between 30 and 40 days of age, the period during which the testes grew rapidly. The level declined thereafter to its initial level. In contrast, qRARß2 mRNA did not exhibit obvious changes. In the developing oviducts, both qRARß1 and ß2 mRNAs reached their peak levels by 30 days of age, just before the rapid development of the oviduct occurred, and then decreased to almost undetectable levels when the oviduct developed to the laying stage (over 2.88 g in weight). Similar expression patterns of qRARß1 and ß2 were also observed in the developing follicles from the prehierarchical (<2-mm diameter) to the largest preovulatory follicle. In contrast, neither qRARß1 nor ß2 mRNA exhibited developmental changes in the brain. These results suggest that RARß may play an important role in the development of the reproductive systems of birds.
First decision: 21 April 2000.
1 This work was supported partly by a Grant-in-Aid for Exploratory Research (9876071) to T.K. and by a Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (98218) to H.K. and Z.F. from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture.
2 Correspondence. FAX: 81 3 5841 5114; akatoq{at}mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp
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