Abstract:
The biological function of the novel zinc-finger SWIM domain-containing protein family (ZSWIM) during embryonic development remains elusive. Here, we conducted a genome-wide analysis to explore the evolutionary processes of the
ZSWIM gene family members in mice,
Xenopus tropicalis, zebrafish, and humans. We identified nine putative
ZSWIM genes in the human and mouse genome, eight in the
Xenopus genome, and five in the zebrafish genome. Based on multiple sequence alignment, three members, ZSWIM5, ZSWIM6, and ZSWIM8, demonstrated the highest homology across all four species. Using available RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data,
ZSWIM genes were found to be widely expressed across different tissues, with distinct tissue-specific properties. To identify the functions of the ZSWIM protein family during embryogenesis, we examined temporal and spatial expression patterns of
zswim family genes in
Xenopus embryos
. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) revealed that each member had a distinct expression profile. Whole-mount
in situ hybridization showed that both
zswim1 and
zswim3 were maternally expressed genes;
zswim5 and
zswim6 were expressed throughout embryogenesis and displayed dynamic expression in the brain, eyes, somite, and bronchial arch at the late tailbud stages;
zswim7 was detected in the eye area;
zswim8 showed a dynamic expression pattern during the tailbud stages, with expression detected in the brain, eyes, and somite;
zswim9 was faintly expressed throughout embryonic development. This study provides a foundation for future research to delineate the functions of
ZSWIM gene members.