title: Cloning of chicken lanosterol 14alpha-demethylase (CYP51) cDNA: discovery of a testis-specific CYP51 transcript.
abstract: A lanosterol 14alpha-demethylase (CYP51) cDNA, which consisted of a 1419 bp open reading frame encoding 472 amino acids and a 918 bp 3'-untranslated region, was isolated from the chicken testis. The sequence corresponding to exon 1 of this cDNA was completely different from those of CYP51 cDNAs in other tissues, including the liver. The expression level of the CYP51 gene with the testis-specific exon 1 was much higher in mature (2-year-old) male chickens than in immature (5-week-old) chickens. In addition, a CYP51 transcript common to several tissues, including the liver, adrenal gland, cerebellum, cerebrum, lobus opticus, kidney, lung, heart, muscle, spleen, small intestine and ovary, was also detected in the testis by RT-PCR. Furthermore, testis-specific shorter transcripts, which have been observed in mammals such as humans, rats and pigs, were not detected in the chicken testis. The results of this study demonstrate for the first time the presence of a chicken testis-specific CYP51 transcript and its sexual maturation-related expression, although its biological significance remains unclear.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Animal Gene Function, Department of Physiology and Gene Regulation, Institute of Insect and Animal Sciences, National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, Kannondai 2-1-2, Tsukuba 305-8602, Japan. misaki@affrc.go.jp
authors.forename: Misaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kojima
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tagami
authors.forename: Masakuni
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Degawa
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D005091:Exons; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009928:Organ Specificity; D012741:Sexual Maturation; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D003577:Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System