A novel porcine gene-MGLL, differentially expressed in the backfat tissues from Meishan and Large White pigs

Abstract. One novel gene that was differentially expressed was identified through semi-quantitative RT-PCR and the cDNA complete sequence was then obtained using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) method. Nucleotide sequence of the gene is not homologous to any of the known porcine genes. The sequence prediction analysis revealed that the open reading frame of this gene encodes a protein of 303 amino acids has high homology with the monoglyceride lipase (MGLL) of eight species-dog (91 %), human (89 %), cattle (88 %), platypus (83 %), mouse (82 %), rat (81 %), rhesus monkey (80 %), and red jungle fowl (70 %) – so that it can be defined as swine MGLL gene. This gene is structured in seven exons and six introns as revealed by computer-assisted analysis. The tissue expression analysis indicated that the swine MGLL gene is differentially expressed in detected tissues. Our experiment suggested that the swine MGLL gene might play an important roles in the superabundant fat deposition of Chinese pigs.