Abstract

The complete coding sequences of two sheep genes-PHKG2 and IRAK4 were amplified using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) method based on three sheep expressed sequence tags whose translated amino acids contain the mitochondrial carrier domain. The sequence analyses of these two genes revealed that the sheep PHKG2 gene encodes a protein of 406 amino acids which has high homology with the phosphorylase kinase, gamma 2 protein of five species: Cattle (99%), human (96%), mouse (92%), rat (91%) and chicken (63%). The sheepIRAK4 gene encodes a protein of 456 amino acids which has high homology with the interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4 protein of six species: Cattle (94%), pig (88%), human (87%), mouse (79%), rat (79%) and chicken (54%). The tissue transcription profile analyses indicated that the Black-boned sheep PHKG2 andIRAK4 genes are generally but differentially expressed in the detected tissues including spleen, muscle, skin, kidney, lung, liver, heart, fat and small intestine. These data serve as a foundation for further insight into these two genes.

Key words: Black-boned sheep, PHKG2 and IRAK4, tissue transcription profile.

Abbreviation

PHKG2, Phosphorylase kinase gamma 2; IRAK4, interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4; RACE, rapid amplification of cDNA ends; TLR, toll-like receptor; LPS, lipo-polysaccharide; GSPs, gene-specific primers; EST,expressed sequence tag; STKc, serine/threonine protein kinase catalytic domain;RT-PCR, reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction.