Isolation and expression analyses of the Sox9a gene in triploid crucian carp

To investigate the evolutional significance of Sox9 in fish, we isolated and characterized Sox9a cDNA and genomic clones in triploid crucian carp. The cDNA encoded a protein of 457 amino acids with an HMG box and showed more than 60% amino acid sequence identity with known vertebrate Sox9 proteins. Triploid crucian carp and vertebrate Sox9s showed similar gene structure, and two introns in the coding region were located at conserved positions. On the basis of the amino acid sequences, Sox9a can be categorized into the same subgroup of Sox-E proteins as Sox8, 9, and 10. Interestingly, the expression of triploid crucian carp Sox9a was predominantly observed not in the ovary but in the testis by Northern blot and RT-PCR analysis. The expression analysis of Sox9a suggested that it may seldom contribute to the formation of normal functions of spermatozoa, but it may play an important role in the development of testicular tubules. Besides the testicular expression, Sox9a was also shown to be expressed in many other tissues including the brain, kidney, and heart of triploid crucian carp, indicating that Sox9 may have unique functions in some specific tissues during development.