Cloning and comparative analyses of the zebrafish Ugt repertoire reveal its evolutionary diversity.

ABSTRACT: UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (Ugts) are a supergene family of phase II drug-metabolizing enzymes that catalyze the conjugation of numerous hydrophobic small molecules with the UDP-glucuronic acid, converting them into hydrophilic molecules. Here, we report the identification and cloning of the complete zebrafish Ugt gene repertoire. We found that the zebrafish genome contains 45 Ugt genes that can be divided into three families: Ugt1, Ugt2, and Ugt5. Both Ugt1 and Ugt2 have two unlinked clusters: a and b. The Ugt1a, Ugt1b, Ugt2a, and Ugt2b clusters each contain variable and constant regions, similar to that of the protocadherin (Pcdh), immunoglobulin (Ig), and T-cell receptor (Tcr) clusters. Cloning the full-length coding sequences confirmed that each of the variable exons is separately sp

SUBMITTER: Huang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2819257 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature