Cloning and sequencing of the complete coding region of CYP3A30 from Fundulus heteroclitus

CYP3A is the dominant CYP form in liver and gastrointestinal tract of mammals and fish. CYP3A enzymes metabolize steroids and a wide variety of non-steroidal substances including drugs, pesticides and environmental pollutants. By using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), a 400 bp cDNA fragment from Fundulus heteroclitus liver previously was cloned and sequenced (Celander and Stegeman. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1997;236:306–312). This partial sequence was denoted CYP3A30 by the P450 nomenclature committee. The complete coding region (nucleotides 1 to 1530) of CYP3A30 from F. heteroclitus liver was subsequently obtained, by using a rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) approach and gene specific primers to the internal CYP3A30 sequence. The full length CYP3A30 cDNA sequence is 75% identical with trout CYP3A27 and 63–67% identical with mammalian CYP3A genes. The high degree of similarity between fish and mammalian CYP3A forms indicates that these CYP genes have been well conserved during vertebrate evolution. Supported by the Swedish Natural Science Research Council (MC) and Sea Grant NA46RG 0470, R/P60 (JJS).