Isolation and characterization of a regulator of G protein signaling (RGS16) gene homologue in yellow grouper Epinephelus awoara

Regulators of G protein signaling (RGS) are GTPase-activating proteins (GAP) which act as modulators of G protein-coupled receptors. We isolated a RGS16 homologue in yellow grouper (Epinephelus awoara) spleen using suppression subtractive hybridization and RACE-PCR. The nucleotide sequence of yellow grouper RGS16 full-length cDNA was 700 bp and contained an open reading frame of 537 bp, encoding a putative protein of 178 amino acids. The encoded protein shows 47–61% identities to other homologues. RT-PCR analysis demonstrated that RGS16 was expressed in yellow grouper spleen and up-regulated in kidney heart, liver, and anterior kidney by lipopolysaccharide. This study will help towards validating the specific function of RGS in marine fish.