Gene Identification and Tissue Differential Expression Analysis of Sepia esculenta Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase

Abstract:

Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene is a key structure and major regulatory subunit of telomerase. TERT synthesizes telomeric DNA repeats by reverse transcription of telomerase RNA template sequences and adds them to the ends of chromosomes to maintain and extend the ends. Golden cuttlefish (Sepia esculenta) is an annual species that dies quickly after spawning. This characteristic makes it a potential research object for the study of reproduction and aging. In this study, the phylogenetic and homologous sequence analysis revealed that the gene was a Sepia esculenta TERT gene with a sequence length of 2415 bp. Quantitative Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the relative expression of TERT gene in the growth stages, spawning stages and aging stages of S. esculenta, and to analyze life cycle differences and gender differences. The research results show that TERT gene expression in six tissues, including heart, liver, pancreas, gill, gonad and esophageal nerve mass, showed a downward trend, which was supposed to be related to the decline of organ division and proliferation in the near-death stage. TERT gene has obvious specificity in different tissues of, Sepia esculenta. It shows that the aging status of different tissues and organs of Sepia esculenta is different. The results of this study can provide basic data for the further study of the regulation mechanism of Telomerase in reproduction and senescence of cephalopod.