A growth hormone-based phylogenetic analysis of euteleostean fishes including a representative species of the Atheriniformes Order, Odontesthes argentinensis

The GH (growth hormone) cDNA sequence of the marine silverside fish Odontesthes argentinensis was obtained using the RACE protocol (Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends). The marine silverside GH cDNA sequence is 928 nucleotides long and was found to encode a polypeptide of 204 amino acids, including a signal peptide of 17 amino acids. The 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions of the messenger are 109 and 204 nucleotides long, respectively. The deduced GH amino acid sequence was used to infer a phylogenetic tree with GH amino acid sequences from representative species belonging to the Euteleostei Subdivision using the maximum parsimony method. The topology found is according to the major phylogenetic grouping of euteleosts. The results corroborate the hypothesis that atherinids are not related to paracanthopterygians as previously suggested, and show a lack of solid synapomorphies among most of the Acanthopterygii Orders analysed indicating a complex assemblage of fishes in which the phylogenetic tree remains indeterminable.