title: The murine fem1 gene family: homologs of the Caenorhabditis elegans sex-determination protein FEM-1.
abstract: The pathway controlling sex determination in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a model for the genetic control of cell-fate determination. We report here the cloning and characterization of a new mouse gene family with homology to FEM-1, a signal-transducing regulator in the C. elegans sex-determination pathway. This gene family consists of two known members, designated Fem1a and Fem1b. The highest degree of homology between the two mouse proteins and the nematode protein is in a domain that encodes seven sequential ANK repeats. The Fem1a gene localizes to chromosome 17 and is highly expressed in adult heart and skeletal muscle. The Fem1b gene localizes to chromosome 9 and is highly expressed in adult testis. Both genes are expressed during embryogenesis. The existence of FEM-1 homologs in the mouse raises the possibility that evolutionary conservation of ancient FEM-1 signaling interactions may play a role in vertebrate cell-fate determination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi, 39216, USA.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ventura-Holman
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Seldin
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Maher
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; C115306:FEM-1 protein, C elegans; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger