Analysis of the conservation of synteny between Fugu and human chromosome 12
Date
2003-07-23
Authors
Montpetit, Alexandre
Wilson, Michael D
Chevrette, Mario
Koop, Ben F
Sinnett, Daniel
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BioMed Central
Abstract
Background: The pufferfish Fugu rubripes (Fugu) with its compact genome is increasingly
recognized as an important vertebrate model for comparative genomic studies. In particular, large
regions of conserved synteny between human and Fugu genomes indicate its utility to identify
disease-causing genes. The human chromosome 12p12 is frequently deleted in various
hematological malignancies and solid tumors, but the actual tumor suppressor gene remains
unidentified.
Results: We investigated approximately 200 kb of the genomic region surrounding the ETV6 locus
in Fugu (fETV6) in order to find conserved functional features, such as genes or regulatory regions,
that could give insight into the nature of the genes targeted by deletions in human cancer cells.
Seven genes were identified near the fETV6 locus. We found that the synteny with human
chromosome 12 was conserved, but extensive genomic rearrangements occurred between the
Fugu and human ETV6 loci.
Conclusion: This comparative analysis led to the identification of previously uncharacterized
genes in the human genome and some potentially important regulatory sequences as well. This is
a good indication that the analysis of the compact Fugu genome will be valuable to identify functional
features that have been conserved throughout the evolution of vertebrates.
Description
BioMed Central
Keywords
Citation
Montpetit A, Wilson MD, Chevrette M, Koop BF, Sinnett D: Analysis of the conservation of synteny between Fugu and human chromosome 12. BMC Genomics 2003, 4