Turkey and chicken interleukin-18 (IL18) share high sequence identity, but have different polyadenylation sites in their 3' UTR.
The cDNA of turkey interleukin-18 (IL18) was cloned, initially using oligonucleotide primers based on the sequence of the chicken IL18 gene. The coding regions of the turkey and chicken IL18 genes are highly conserved (96.1% nucleotide identical and 97.4% amino acid identical). The 3' UTR of the turkey IL18 mRNA contains two 'instability' motifs and a canonical polyadenylation site, as compared to the chicken IL18 mRNA which contains only one instability motif and lacks a canonical polyadenylation site. Phylogenetic analysis shows that turkey and chicken IL18 have diverged to a less extent than IL18 from closely related mammalian species. We predict that turkey and chicken IL18 will cross-react in functional assays.
Institute for Animal Health, Compton, Berkshire RG20 7NN, UK. pete.kaiser@bbsrc.ac.uk
Pete
P
Kaiser
D020413:3' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D026723:Polyadenylation; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D014422:Turkeys / Q000276:immunology*
D020413:3' Untranslated Regions; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D020382:Interleukin-18