Xenbase Image ID: 82410

Fig. 1. Evolutionary conservation of Xenopus kctd15, a novel FGF-repressed gene. (A) Xenopus Kctd15 expression is repressed by FGF or RasV12 in ectodermal explants. hRasV12 mRNA was injected into the animal poles of four-cell stage embryos. Ectodermal explants derived from uninjected or injected embryos were left untreated or treated with 100 ng/ml FGF. At stage 11, explants were harvested for RNA preparation. The expression level of kctd15 was determined by real-time quantitative RT-PCR and normalized relative to that of ef1a. Shown is the average of two independent experiments. The error bar represents the standard deviation (SD). Significant differences are marked by asterisks (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, unpaired t test). P values versus control were as follows: 0.067 for FGF-treated explants, 0.0030 for hRasV12 mRNA (4 pg)-injected explants, and 0.016 for hRasV12 mRNA (10 pg)-injected explants. (B) Schematic representation of Xenopus kctd15 protein. Xenopus kctd15 consists of 255 amino acids and has the potassium channel tetramerization domain at the N-terminus. (C) A phylogenetic tree of vertebrate KCTD15 proteins. The tree was drawn by the BLAST TreeView Widget (http://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/). Genetic distances were calculated from the aligned sequences by using the Grishin distance model. The tree was built with the Fast Minimum Evolution method. Identity of amino acid sequences among vertebrate KCTD15 orthologs is shown in the table. (D) Alignment of vertebrate KCTD15 protein sequences. Asterisks mark amino acid residues conserved in all species. Periods mark amino acid residues conserved in at least 4 out of 7 species. (E) Temporal expression of Xenopus kctd15 in early development. The total RNA isolated from embryos at indicated stages was subjected to real-time quantitative RT-PCR. The expression level of kctd15 was normalized relative to that of odc. Shown is the average of two independent experiments. The error bar represents the standard deviation (SD). Image published in: Takahashi C et al. (2012) Copyright © 2012. Reproduced with permission of the Publisher, University of the Basque Country Press. Larger Image Printer Friendly View

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