[Molecular cloning and expression analysis of swamp eel (Monopterus albus) Hprt]

The enzyme hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) plays an important role in the purine salvage pathways. Full-length cDNA of swamp eel (Monopterus albus, the rice field eel) Hprt gene was obtained by the RACE method. The cDNA sequence was 1452 bp in length, which encoded a protein of 218 amino acids. Amino acid identities of Hprt between swamp eel and other vertebrates including human, mouse, chicken and zebrafish were more than 76.7%. Phylogenetic tree analysis based on the amino acid sequences showed that Hprt of swamp eel and zebrafish was in one clade. RT-PCR analysis showed ubiquitous expression pattern of swamp eel Hprt in adult tissues, suggesting that it has a constitutive function and is conserved during evolution.