title: Mytilus edulis core histone genes are organized in two clusters devoid of linker histone genes.
abstract: Comparison of histone gene cluster arrangements in several species has revealed a broad spectrum of histone gene patterns. To elucidate the core histone gene organization in a mollusk, we have analyzed a Mytilus edulis genomic library and have isolated eight phage clones containing core histone genes. Analysis of insert DNA revealed that the core histone genes are arranged as regular gene repeats of all four core histones. The repeats do not contain linker histone genes. The clones are distributed into two groups of dissimilar repeated units with a common size of about 5.6 kb. The genes of each core histone class in the distinct repeats encode identical histone proteins and have comparable gene arrangements in the two repeat units. However, the intergenic sequences differ significantly. The core histone genes are organized as large clusters of about 100 repeats each. Previously, we have shown that the linker histone genes in M. edulis are also organized in a cluster of repeats of solitary H1 genes. Hence, this is the first case of a separate, clustered organization of both core and linker histone genes, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biochemie und Molekulare Zellbiologie, Universität Göttingen, Humboldtallee 23, Germany.
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Albig
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Warthorst
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Drabent
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Prats
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cornudella
authors.forename: Detlef
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Doenecke
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D049872:Bivalvia / Q000235:genetics*; D004274:DNA, Recombinant / Q000032:analysis; D015698:Genomic Library; D006657:Histones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D051381:Rats; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004274:DNA, Recombinant; D006657:Histones