RESUMO
In this study, the developmental expression pattern of myostatin (mstn) in the spotted rose snapper Lutjanus guttatus under culture conditions is presented. The full coding sequence of mstn from L. guttatus was isolated from muscle tissue, obtaining 1134 nucleotides which encode a peptide of 377 amino acids. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that this sequence corresponds to mstn-1. mstn expression was detected in embryonic stages, and maintained at low levels until 28 days post-hatch, when it showed a significant increase, coinciding with the onset of metamorphosis. After that, expression was fluctuating, coinciding probably with periods of rapid and slow muscle growth or individual growth rates. mstn expression was also analysed by body mass with higher levels detected in smaller animals, irrespective of age. mstn was also expressed in other tissues from L. guttatus, presenting higher levels in brain, eye and gill. In brain for instance, two variants of mstn were isolated, both coding sequences were identical to muscle, except that one of them contained a 75 nucleotide deletion in exon 1, maintaining the reading frame but deleting two conserved cysteine residues. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that this brain variant was also mstn-1. The function of this variant is not clear and needs further investigation. These results indicate that mstn-1 participates in different physiological processes other than muscle growth in fishes.