title: Chromosomal assignment of 311 sequences transcribed in human adult testis.
abstract: A total of 311 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) derived from human adult testis have been assigned to human chromosomes by Southern analysis of a monochromosome somatic cell hybrid panel. Over 70% of the ESTs show conservation to hamster and mouse DNA, and the overall distribution of transcripts correlates well with physical chromosome size and to a greater extent with male meiotic chromosome length. The notable exception is the X chromosome, for which the number of testis-derived ESTs is greatly underrepresented. This finding may reflect inactivation of the X chromosome during the meiotic phase of spermatogenesis and a consequent selection against large numbers of X-linked germ cell transcripts. Further analysis of the distribution of testis ESTs showed that the EST density remains significantly correlated with the recombination density of each autosome. Analysis of a comparable number (320) of brain EST autosome assignments showed no similar correlation. These data suggest a specific association between transcription in testis tissue and male meiotic recombination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, England, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Tirosvoutis
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Davey
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Spurr
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Affara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D006224:Cricetinae; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary