Characterization of a mouse recA-like gene specifically expressed in testis.
Using the sequence information on a class of recA-like genes, which have been isolated from meiosis-specific cDNA libraries of Lilium and budding yeast and identified in various plant cells, a new gene was screened from a mouse testis cDNA library. The putative product of the gene, termed MmLim15, was 37.8 kDa consisting of 340 amino acid residues. The predicted amino acid sequence showed 72-78% similarity to those of Lim15 from Lilium and other meiosis-specific RecA-like proteins. Similarity was also found to another class of recA-like proteins, Rad51 and its homologues, which have been detected in both budding and fission yeasts and various animal cells, but to a lesser extent and the similarity patterns were somewhat different from those for Lim15 type proteins, revealing that the two classes of recA-like genes are phylogenetically separate. Reverse transcription-PCR using poly(A)+ RNAs from various tissues as templates indicated that transcription of MmLim15 occurred specifically in the testis, suggesting that the MmLim15 product participates in meiotic recombination.
Sato
S
S
Kazusa DNA Research Institute, Chiba, Japan.
Kobayashi
T
T
Hotta
Y
Y
Tabata
S
S
D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D028044:Phosphate-Binding Proteins; D010802:Phylogeny; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013737:Testis; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C513032:Dmc1 protein, mouse; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D028044:Phosphate-Binding Proteins; D011938:Rec A Recombinases; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases