Cardoso, JoãoLaiz-Carrión, R.Louro, BrunoSilva, NádiaCanario, Adelino V. M.Mancera, J. M.Power, Deborah2014-05-092014-05-092011Cardoso, J.C.R.; Laiz-Carrion, R.; Louro, B.; Silva, N.; Canario, A.V.M.; Mancera, J.M.; Power, D.M. Divergence of duplicate POMC genes in gilthead sea bream Sparus auratus, General and Comparative Endocrinology, 173, 3, 396-404, 2011.00166480AUT: ACA00258; DPO00386;http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/3833Proopiomelanocorticotrophin (POMC) in vertebrates is produced in the pituitary gland and undergoes post-translational processing to give rise to a range of biologically active peptides. Teleosts possess 2–3 different POMC transcripts which have been proposed to have originated from a whole or partial genome duplication. In the present study 2 transcripts of gilthead sea bream POMC (sbPOMC-a1 and a2) were cloned and characterised. sbPOMC-a1 is expressed principally in the melanotroph cells of the pars intermedia (PI) and sbPOMC-a2 is expressed in the corticotroph cells of the rostral pars distalis and probably also in the PI. The 2 sbPOMC transcripts have a differential tissue distribution in extra-pituitary sites. An appraisal of POMC evolution indicates sbPOMCs belong to one of the two main clades that exist in teleosts and that overall a non conservative process of gene loss occurred in this infraclass.engEctopic expressionEvolutionGene duplicationPituitaryPOMCSub-functionalizationjournal article2014-05-08http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2010.12.001