Syntenic relationships of the oligo- and poly-α2,8-sialyltransferases gene loci in vertebrates. Chromosomal locations of the st8sia genes and neighboring gene loci were determined in the human (Homo sapiens, Hsa), the mouse (Mus musculus (Mmu), the chicken (Gallus gallus, Gga), the spotted gar (L. oculatus, Locu), the western clawed frog (Xenopus tropicalis, Xtro), the zebrafish (D. rerio, Dre), the Japanese medaka (O. latipes, Ola), the channel catfish (I. punctatus, Ipu), the northern pike (E. lucius, Elu), the rainbow trout (O. mykiss, Omy), the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar, Ssa), the African weakly electric fish (Paramormyrops kingsleyae, Pki), the three-spined stickleback (G. aculeatus, Gac), the southern platyfish (X. maculatus, Xma), and the European carp (C. carpio, Cca). Information from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and ENSEMBL release 97 was used to identify putative orthologues, which were visualized using the Genomicus 97.01 [53]. Paralogous genes in the fish genomes are indicated in green and in purple in the human genome. The st8sia genes are indicated in red or in grey when lost. (A) Syntenic relationships of the st8sia2 and st8sia4 gene loci in vertebrates. (B) Syntenic relationships of the st8sia3 and st8sia9 gene loci in vertebrates.