Artificial gene for a vitellogenesis-inhibiting hormone.

The objective of this Major Qualifying Project was to design and synthesize an artificial gene encoding a lobster vitellogenesis-inhibiting hormone (VIH) and then express that gene in host yeast cells. Based on the amino acid sequence of VIH, a set of oligonucleotides were designed and optimized for the codon bias of the yeast expression system, P. pastoris. The oligonucleotides were assembled into a single DNA molecule, cloned into a plasmid vector and sequenced, however, expression of the hormone is ongoing