Identification of the ribosomal proteins S20 and L10 from the amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtaunese (Cephalochordata/Branchiostomidae)

Abstract

The complete cDNA and deduced amino acid sequences of the ribosomal protein S20 (AmphiS20) and L10 (AmphiL10) from the amphioxus Branchiostoma belcheri tsingtaunese are presented here. The AmphiS20 cDNA consists of 591 base pair (bp) and encodes a 121 amino acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 13,621 Da. The putative protein shares 65.6%-86.6% identity to the known eukaryotic homologues including animals, plants and fungi. The AmphiL10 cDNA is 763 bp in length and encodes a 217 amino acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 24,751Da. The deduced protein displays more than 65.4% sequence identity to its homologues examined. The high idenitity of AmphiS20 and AmphiL10 to their homologues from evolutionarily diverse organisms points to the remarkably conserved role these proteins play in ribosome structure and function. As house-keeping genes, determination of AmphiS20 and AmphiL10 will provide valuable normalizing tools for the study of transcriptional expression of other genes in amphioxus.