title: Evidence against gamma-crystallin DNA or RNA sequences in the chicken.
abstract: A cloned cDNA (pM gamma 1 Crl) encoding about two-thirds of a gamma-crystallin polypeptide from the murine lens was used as a hybridization probe to search for the presence of gamma-crystallin-like RNA or DNA sequences in the chicken. The 15-day-old chicken lens did not contain any RNA sequences homologous to the murine gamma-crystallin cDNA, as judged by Northern blot hybridization. An approximate 2.3 Kbp (kilobase pair) Bam HI fragment from the chicken genome hybridized to the murine gamma-crystallin cDNA in Southern blots. Cloning and sequencing of this genomic fragment, however, did not reveal any homology with gamma- or beta-crystallin sequences. A stretch of 22 dG: dC nucleotides was present in the cloned DNA fragment and possibly this hybridized to the cloned gamma-crystallin cDNA via its dG:dC nucleotide tails introduced during the cloning procedure. These data support those of McDevitt and Croft (1977) indicating that the chicken lens lacks gamma-crystallin and provide evidence against gamma-crystallin mRNA or a gamma-crystallin gene or pseudogene in the chicken. The absence of gamma-crystallin mRNA in the embryonic chicken lens cells makes them potentially useful recipients for investigating the expression of cloned gamma-crystallin genes.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003459:Crystallins / Q000235:genetics; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000032:analysis*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D003459:Crystallins; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA