title: Structure and developmental expression of the chick alpha-actin gene.
abstract: Recombinant DNA clones containing chick alpha-actin mRNA sequence have been isolated and used as probes to analyze the structure and developmental expression of the chick alpha-actin gene. The full length, 2000 nucleotide alpha-actin mRNA is detected in poly(A) RNA at early and late stages of in vivo leg muscle development. As expected, the alpha-actin mRNA is present at very low levels at early myogenic stages but is a high abundance species in terminally differentiated muscle. However, most of the alpha-actin mRNA from fused leg muscle is shorter than 2000 nucleotides, and occurs in relatively discrete size classes. An alpha-actin-like mRNA can be detected in poly(A) RNA from early embryonic brain, indicating that transcription of the alpha-actin gene may not be strictly muscle-specific at all stages of development. We have identified at least 3, very short (< 100 base pairs) intervening sequences in the alpha-actin gene which was isolated from a chick genomic library. The structure of the chick alpha-actin gene differs, therefore, from the structures of actin genes from yeast and Drosophila, both of which contain a single, relatively long, intervening sequence.
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009132:Muscles / Q000196:embryology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D012333:RNA, Messenger