Expression of Hox paralog group 13 genes in adult and developing Megalobrama amblycephala

Hox genes encode transcription factors that play a key role in specifying the body plan in most metazoans. HoxPG13 genes most probably played an important role in body length variation during the evolution of animals. This is the first report of the mRNA expression patterns of the entire Hox paralog group 13 (HoxA13a, HoxA13b, HoxB13a, HoxC13a, HoxC13b, HoxD13a) in fish. Expression was studied by qPCR in five tissues of adult Megalobrama amblycephala specimens (spleen, liver, kidney, intestine and gills) and during development (17 stages: fertilised egg to 90 days-old juveniles). Expression in tissues (for all six genes) was generally very low in gills (0.0006-0.05), spleen (0.006-0.09) and kidney (0.02-0.39); the highest in intestine (from 2.28 for HoxC13b to 244.29 for HoxC13a). During the development, a peak in expression around the hatching was observed for all six genes. Results suggest a high maternal expression of HoxA13a, and low for HoxA13ab. HoxD13a paralog exhibited the lowest expression: 0.0006-2.63 in tissues and 0.0005-1.7 during development, suggesting the possibility of a gradual loss of functionality. Expression of HoxC13 paralogs corroborates the findings in zebrafish: HoxC13b is maternally expressed and more important during the development. In adults, it was the opposite: expression was low for HoxC13b and very variable for HoxC13a (0.06-244.29). Differences in expression levels between both pairs of paralogs (Aa/Ab and Ca/Cb) indicate the possibility of the existence of some redundancy afforded by maintaining both paralogs.