Cloning and phylogenetic study of two genes belonging to DASH Cryptochrome subfamily in Volvox carteri

In the most organisms, signaling photoreceptors have been made to percept and interpret of environmental signals. They can absorb light through their chromophores, trigger different signaling pathways and result in appropriate responses in the cells. Optogenetics, a new field of science, try to use the photoreceptors as molecular instruments in order to exact control of the cellular events. Determination of the new molecular instruments with special characteristics is one of the ways to develop the optogenetics. For this goal, investigation on the predicted genes ortologous with determined photoreceptors is very useful. Two Cryptochrome/ Photolyase family genes were predicted based on the results of Volvox carteri (the model algae) genome sequencing. The goals of this investigation are as follow: the exact determination and isolation of coding sequences related with these two predicted genes, insertion into the expression vector (pGEX2TK) and determination of the subclude of their open reading frames in the Cryptochrome/Photolyase family. Volvox carteri has been grown up in optimum condition. Then this two coding sequences were amplified by using RT-PCR technique. These coding sequences were inserted in the pGEX2TK by genetic engineering techniques. Produced recombinant vectors were transferred to the Escherichia coli strain Top10 and sequenced after plasmid extraction. In current study, it was found that documented mRNA sequences for these two genes in NCBI are different with our mRNA sequences.