Two delta-crystallin polypeptides are derived from a cloned delta 1-crystallin cDNA.
Previous studies have shown that there are 2 similar delta-crystallin genes (delta 1 and delta 2) and at least 2 delta-crystallin polypeptides in the chicken eye lens. We show here that both delta-crystallin polypeptides can be synthesized from mRNA transcribed in vitro from a cloned delta 1-crystallin cDNA. Both polypeptides co-migrate in SDS-urea-polyacrylamide electrophoresis with their authentic counterparts isolated from 15-day-old embryonic chicken lenses, and both react with sheep anti-chicken delta-crystallin serum. Screening nearly 900 delta-crystallin cDNA clones from a 15-day-old embryonic lens library with an oligonucleotide probe specific for exon 2 of the delta 2-crystallin gene failed to detect any delta 2 cDNA clones, indicating that the delta 2 gene produces little or no mRNA in the lens at this stage of development. Our results suggest that both of the observed delta-crystallin polypeptides are derived from mRNA transcribed from the delta 1 gene, with heterogeneity arising at the translational or co-translational level.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002642:Chick Embryo; D003459:Crystallins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics
D003459:Crystallins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D004247:DNA