Osteocalcin (bone Gla protein) is an extracellular matrix protein synthesized by osteoblasts that is a marker of bone. Osteocalcin probably originated in the ancestors of Teleostei or bony fish and of the Tetrapoda or amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. We have characterized the Cyprinus carpio (carp) osteocalcin for mineral binding to hydroxyapatite, amino acid sequence, and extent of se...

Cartilaginous fishes are the oldest living phylogenetic group of jawed vertebrates. Here, we demonstrate the value of cartilaginous fish sequences in reconstructing the evolutionary history of vertebrate genomes by sequencing the protocadherin cluster in the relatively small genome (910 Mb) of the elephant shark (Callorhinchus milii). Human and coelacanth contain a single protocadherin cluster ...

Genomic resources for hundreds of species of evolutionary, agricultural, economic, and medical importance are unavailable due to the expense of well-assembled genome sequences and difficulties with multigenerational studies. Teleost fish provide many models for human disease but possess anciently duplicated genomes that sometimes obfuscate connectivity. Genomic information representing a fish l...

Teleost retinal cones contract in the light and elongate in the dark. In the green sunfish, Lepomis cyanellus, the necklike myoid region of the cone contracts from as much as 120 micrometers (midnight dark-adapted) to 6 micrometers in fully light-adapted state. When dark-adapted fish are exposed to light (1.4 lux), cone myoids contract with a linear rate of 1.5 +/- 0.1 micrometers/min. We repor...

Twenty-one members of the secretin family (family 2) of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) were identified via directed cloning and data-mining of the Fugu Genome Consortium database, representing the most comprehensive description of secretin GPCRs in a teleost fish to date. Duplicated genes were identified for many of the family members, namely the receptors for pituitary adenylate cyclase-a...