First published online November 2, 2007
Journal of Experimental Biology 210, 3883-3896 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
doi: 10.1242/jeb.007898
Oligopeptide transporter PepT1 in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.): cloning, tissue expression and comparative aspects
Ivar Rønnestad1,*,
Paulo J. Gavaia2,
Carla S. B. Viegas2,
Tiziano Verri3,
Alessandro Romano3,
Tom Ole Nilsen1,
Ann-Elise O. Jordal1,
Yuko Kamisaka1 and
M. Leonor Cancela2
1 University of Bergen, Department of Biology, N-5020 Bergen,
Norway
2 University of Algarve –CCMAR, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro,
Portugal
3 University of Salento (formerly University of Lecce), Department of
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, I-73100 Lecce,
Italy

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Fig. 1. Nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequence of Atlantic cod PepT1
(codPepT1). The numbers on the right refer to positions of the nucleotides
(lower row) and amino acids (upper row). The stop codon is indicated by
***. A polyadenylation signal is underlined. Positions for
degenerated (broken underline) and species specific (solid underline and
double underline) primers are indicated in the nucleotide sequence. In the
amino acid sequence, putative transmembrane domains are underlined in red and
named I to XII. Potential extracellular N-glycosylation sites (dark green
boxed areas) and potential cAMP/cGMP-dependent protein kinase phosphorylation
sites at the cytoplasmic surface (light grey boxed areas) are indicated.
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Fig. 2. Amino acid alignment of human, macaque, rat, mouse, dog, rabbit, sheep,
cow, pig, chicken, turkey, zebrafish and Atlantic cod PepT1. Multiple sequence
alignment was generated using Clustal W 1.82 using the tool at the
www.ebi.ac.uk/clustalw
web site with the following (default) parameters: Matrix=Gonnet 250, Gap
Open=10, End Gaps=–1, Gap Extension=0.2, Gap Distances=4. Putative
transmembrane segments (Ia to XII) were predicted using the TMHMM 2.0 program
(TMHMM Server v. 2.0 at
http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/TMHMM-2.0/),
which is part of the Simple Modular Architecture Research Tool (SMART; at
http://www.expasy.org/prosite/),
and are indicated by grey-boxed double-headed broken arrows (with darker grey
designating the core stretch of amino acids within each putative
TMHMM-predicted transmembrane segment that is shared by at least two of the
aligned sequences). Within each sequence, the topological location of each
TMHMM2-predicted transmembrane helix is specifically underlined. Potential
phosphorylation (solid triangle, protein kinase C; solid circle, protein
kinase A) and N-glycosylation (Y) sites are indicated and
correspondently highlighted in dark grey, light grey and dark green,
respectively, along the sequences where found. The proposed `PTR2 family
proton/oligopeptide symporters signature 1' motif (PROSITE pattern: PS01022;
amino acid residues 77–101 in Atlantic cod PepT1) and `PTR2 family
proton/oligopeptide symporters signature 2' motif (PROSITE pattern: PS01023;
amino acid residues 170–182 in Atlantic cod PepT1) are highlighted in
black. Individual amino acid residues identified by site-directed mutagenesis
in PepT1 proteins from various mammalian species and found to be either
involved in transport activity or responsible for incorrect synthesis and/or
transport of the protein to the plasma membrane are indicated in red (for
details, see Table 1).
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Fig. 3. Unrooted phylogenetic tree depicting the evolutionary relationship of
vertebrate PepT1 transporters. The unrooted tree was constructed using the
neighbor-joining (NJ) method (Saitou and
Nei, 1987 ) based on the alignment of the complete amino acid
sequences of known vertebrate PepT1 transporters. Bootstrap values (1000
replicates) indicating the occurrence of nodes are reported above each branch
in the figure.
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Fig. 4. Tissue distribution of Atlantic cod PepT1 mRNA in adult fish. RT-PCR
performed on equal amounts of total RNA (1.5 µg) isolated from adult fish
tissues using Atlantic cod PepT1-(top row) and EF1 -specific (bottom
row) primers. Control, no RNA (H2O instead) in RT (negative
control). DNA markers indicate 10 kb SmartLadder (Eurogentec, Seraing,
Belgium).
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Fig. 5. Spatial distribution of Atlantic cod PepT1 mRNA in the digestive tract of
adult fish. (A) A representative picture of Atlantic cod digestive tract. 1,
stomach; 2, pyloric area; 3, pyloric caeca (inner segments); 4, pyloric caeca
(outer segments); 5–10, six adjacent intestinal segments in the
remainder of the digestive tract, starting after the pyloric area (segment 5)
and ending with the anus (segment 10), and based on divisions of the three
loops present in the dissected gut. The last segment (e.g. segment 10) also
comprises the hindgut. Arrows indicate the incisions between the segments. (B)
RT-PCR performed on equal amounts of total RNA (1.5 µg) isolated from the
different segments of the digestive tract of Atlantic cod using PepT1-(top
row) and EF1 -specific (bottom row) primers. Progressive numbers (1 to
10) indicate the segments of the digestive tract indicated in A. Control (C),
no RNA (H2O instead) in RT (negative control); M, DNA markers (10
kb SmartLadder; Eurogentec).
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Fig. 6. PepT1 gene expression on neighbor sections of Atlantic cod intestine by
in situ hybridization. (A) The sense probe showed no staining
(negative control). (B) The antisense probe revealed mRNA expression in the
epithelial layer of the intestine. (C) Epithelium from boxed area in B
enlarged. Scale bars, 100 µm (A,B), 20 µm (C).
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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2007