Characterization of the vasa gene in the Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis: a germ line molecular marker.

The vasa gene first identified in Drosophila encodes an ATP-dependent RNA helicase belonging to the DEAD-box family and is specifically expressed in germ line cells. In this study a full-length vasa gene homolog from the Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) was characterized, comprising of 2369 bp nucleotides with an open reading frame of 1866 bp encoding 621 amino acids. The putative protein was shown to contain eight conserved motifs belonging to the DEAD-box protein family and two zinc-finger domains (CCHC) and a Q-motif.