Genome-wide identification, evolution of ATF/CREB family and their expression in Nile tilapia

The ATF/CREB family of transcription factors represents a large group of basic region-leucine zipper (bZip) proteins that regulate diverse cellular responses. Here we carried out a comprehensive analysis of ATF/CREB family members in 22 representative animal species. The family probably originated from the early diverging metazoan and significantly expanded in vertebrates due to multiple whole genome duplication. Duplicates of atf6 were derived from 2R, and duplicates of creb1, crem, jdp2, creb5, atf4, atf5 and atf7 were products of 3R. We also isolated 21 ATF/CREBs, belonging to 6 subfamilies from Nile tilapia. Based on transcriptome data, most members were found to be dominantly expressed in the head kidney, heart, brain and testis. Some ATF/CREBs displayed sexual dimorphic expression in gonad at 5, 90 and 180 dah (days after hatching), but not at 30 dah. creb1a and atf4a were found to be expressed mainly in phase I and II oocytes of the ovary; while creb1b and atf4b mainly in spermatogenic cells of the testis, indicating divergence of duplicated genes from 3R which suggested neofunctionalization or subfunctionalization in gonad. This is the first genome-wide screening and evolutionary analysis of ATF/CREB family in different animals, particularly in teleosts. The expression analysis of this family in tilapia gonad provided a fundamental clue for understanding their important roles in sex differentiation and gonadal development in teleosts.