title: The Fem1c genes: conserved members of the Fem1 gene family in vertebrates.
abstract: The fem-1 gene of Caenorhabditis elegans functions in a signaling pathway that controls sex determination. Homologs of fem-1 in mammals have been characterized, consisting of two family members, Fem1a and Fem1b. We report here on Fem1c, a third member of the Fem1 gene family, in three vertebrate species: human, mouse, and zebrafish. The proteins encoded by these Fem1c genes share >99% amino acid identity between human and mouse, 79% amino acid identity between mouse and zebrafish, and end with a C-terminal Arginine residue, which distinguishes them from other FEM-1 proteins reported thus far. The human and mouse Fem1c coding regions show conservation of intron-exon structure and expression pattern in adult tissues. Human FEM1C maps to 5q22, mouse Fem1c maps to chromosome 18, and zebrafish fem1c maps to Linkage Group 8. The Fem1c genes in vertebrates may play a conserved role in the development and/or physiologic function of these organisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39216, USA.
authors.forename: Tereza
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ventura-Holman
authors.forename: Deyin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Xiaohong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Si
authors.forename: Ernest B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Izevbigie
authors.forename: Joseph F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Maher
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D002895:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5 / Q000235:genetics; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017124:Conserved Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005091:Exons; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D005796:Genes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D043743:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligase Complexes; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000235:genetics*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D011506:Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D043743:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligase Complexes; C478973:FEM1C protein, human