Abstract: The gene encoding giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) growth hormone receptor (GHR) was amplified by RT-PCR from the liver total RNA. Cloned into pGEM^.®_-T vector, the PCR product was sequenced and analyzed subsequently. The results indicated that the open reading frame (ORF) of giant panda GHR is 1 917 bp , which encodes a 638 amino acid precursor containing a signal peptide of 18 amino acids and a mature peptide of 620 amino acid. Mature GHR of giant panda possesses similar GHR architectural structure from human, dog, and pig, all including a 246 amino acids extracellular domain, a hydrophobic transmembrane region of 24 amino acid followed by a 350 amino acid cytoplasmic region, and all conserved landmarks of GHR were also found in giant panda GHR from sequence alignment. Sequence analysis revealed a fairly high similarity between giant panda GHR and GHR from mammals ranging from 69 % to 93 %, and a medium level similarity of 60 % with the birds and reptiles. But the amino acid similarity decreases to only 30 % for fish species. Despite the great similarity, giant panda GHR has its own specificity in the amino acid compared to GHR from other mammals, suggesting possible difference on biological function.

Key words: Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), Growth hormone receptor (GHR), RT - PCR, cDNA cloning, Sequence analysis