A mouse Y chromosome pseudogene is related to human ubiquitin activating enzyme E1.
A 2041 bp DNA fragment isolated from the Sxr (sex reversed) region of the mouse Y Chromosome (Chr) was sequenced and characterized. The sequence, pY8/b, contains four exons that are highly similar to 525 contiguous bases from the cDNA of human ubiquitin activating enzyme E1. Two of the exons contain stop codons, indicating that pY8/b is not part of a functional gene. Sequences related to pY8/b were amplified from the Y Chr of the inbred mouse strain, C57BL/6J. These sequences may be portions of the recently discovered functional equivalent of pY8/b. Despite a high degree of similarity with the human E1 gene, the functional equivalent of pY8/b is not the mouse E1 gene, because unlike E1, the functional equivalent of pY8/b is expressed in a tissue-specific manner. These data are discussed with respect to theory on the evolution of the mammalian Y Chr, and in particular, to the prediction that functional genes on the Y Chr have a male-specific function.
Tucker
P K
PK
Museum of Zoology, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.
Phillips
K S
KS
Lundrigan
B
B
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D006801:Humans; D008025:Ligases / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011544:Pseudogenes / Q000235:genetics*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D044764:Ubiquitin-Activating Enzymes; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D014998:Y Chromosome
D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D008025:Ligases; D044764:Ubiquitin-Activating Enzymes