CLONING OF THE SOLE (SOLEA-SENEGALENSIS) GROWTH HORMONE-ENCODING CDNA

We report here the complete nucleotide (nt) sequence of a cDNA clone e ncoding Solea senegalensis growth hormone (sGH) isolated from an expre ssion library prepared from sole pituitary gland poly(A)(+)RNA. The li brary was screened using a flounder GH cDNA. The cDNA sequence contain ing an insert of 769 nt was found to encode a polypeptide of 203 amino acids (aa), including a signal peptide of 17 aa. The 5'- and 3'-untra nslated regions of the message are 17 and 119-nt long, respectively. N orthern blot hybridization detected a 0.9-kb RNA species. The sGH cDNA sequence shows homologies of 80.9, 76.9, 73.8 and 64.2% with the GH o f tuna, gilthead seabream, flounder and rainbow trout.