Splice variants and seasonal expression of buffalo HSF genes

Abstract

In eukaryotes, the heat shock factors (HSFs) are recognized as the master regulator of the heat shock response. In this respect, the genes encoding the heat shock factors seem to be important for adaptation to thermal stress in organisms. Despite this, only few mammalian HSFs has been characterized. In this study, four major heat shock factor genes viz. HSF-1, 2, 4, and 5 were studied. The main objective of the present study was to characterize the cDNA encoding using conserved gene specific primers and to investigate the expression status of these buffalo HSF genes. Our RT-PCR analysis uncovered two distinct variants of buffalo HSF-1 and HSF-2 gene transcripts. In addition, we identified a variant of the HSF5 transcript in buffalo lacking a DNA-binding domain. In silico analysis of deduced amino acid sequences for buffalo HSF genes showed domain architecture similar to other mammalian species. Changes in the gene expression profile were noted by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis. We detected the transcript of buffalo HSF genes in different tissues. We also evaluated the seasonal changes in the expression of HSF genes. Interestingly, the transcript level of HSF-1 gene was found upregulated in months of high and low ambient temperatures. In contrast, the expression of the HSF-4 and 5 genes was found to be downregulated in months of high ambient temperature. This suggests that the intricate balance of different HSFs is adjusted to minimize the effect of seasonal changes in environmental conditions. These findings advance our understanding of the complex, context-dependent regulation of HSF gene expression under normal and stressful conditions.

Developmental competence and expression profile of genes in buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) oocytes and embryos collected under different environmental stress

“…An example is highly fluctuating success rates of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer in the absence of explanation (Wunder et al 2005). The influence of the seasons of the year on the characteristics of the oocytes, fertilization and pregnancy rates may be importantly related to this variability, as reported previously for bovine (Rutldge et al 1999;Al-Katanani et al 2002;Sartori and Mertens 2002;Vasconcelos et al 2006;Paula-Lopes et al 2008;Roth 2008;de Torres-Júnior et al 2008;Ferreira et al 2011;Gendelman and Roth 2012a, b, c;Vieira et al 2014) and buffalo (Abdoon et al 2014;Hozyen et al 2014;Rossi et al 2014;Ali 2015;Lal et al 2015). Indeed, it is well-known that heat stress is a major concern for animal agriculture production in tropical and subtropical countries across the globe because of it's negative impact on reproduction (Ealy et al 1995).…”

Thermopriming triggers splicing memory in Arabidopsis

“…How heat stress affects constitutive and alternative splicing is currently unclear, and it remains to be determined whether heat stress can alter the patterns ofAS and produce certain pre-mRNA isoforms for proper responses to lethal temperatures. In other eukaryotes, including Drosophila and mice, HSF1 and HSF2 produce different AS isoforms and exhibit tissue-specific and temperature-responsive expression patterns ( Lal et al , 2015 ). Different thermosensitive AS responses have been reported in Neurospora ( Diernfellner et al , 2005 ).…”

Transcriptomic analysis to uncover genes affecting cold resistance in the Chinese honey bee (Apis cerana cerana)

“…HSF5 is part of a protein family that modulates HSPs expression; therefore, it is likely related to thermoregulation. Indeed, HSF5 expression was significantly higher in winter than in summer [ 65 ]. Further, HSF2BP primarily modulates HSF2 activation; an increase in its transcripts can be induced following a heat-shock treatment, but it also appears to be the most insensitive to temperature change among the HSP s [ 66 ].…”