Abstract：The Dmrt genes, which share a highly conserved DM domain, are a new transcription factors with zinc finger domain. Although several members of Dmrt genes had been cloned from a lot of species, none was reported in shellfish. In this study, three different DM sequences（pmDmrt2，pmDmrt3 pmDmrt4） approximately 141 bp were amplified from genomic DNA of Pinctada matensii using the DM degenerate primers.The result indicate the unexpected complexity of the DM domain gene family in Pinctada matensii. The identity between pmDmrt2 and the Dmrt2 of Danio rerio, Xenopus Laevis , Gallus gallus , Mus musculu ,Homo sapiens is 95%, between pmDmrt3 and the Dmrt3 of Danio rerio, Oryzias latipes, Gallus gallus, Rattus norvegicus,Homo sapiens is 85%, and 97% between pmDmrt4 and the Dmrt4 of Oryzias latipes and Takifugurubripes. Our results further reveal the evolutionary conservation of the DM domain gene family in both invertebrates and vertebrates.
