Genomic organization of the mouse fertilin β gene that encodes an ADAM family protein active in sperm-egg fusion
✍ Scribed by Cho, Chunghee ;Turner, Laura ;Primakoff, Paul ;Myles, Diana G.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 137 KB
- Volume
- 20
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0192-253X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The fertilin a and b genes (Ftna and Ftnb, respectively) encode a sperm surface heterodimer that functions in sperm-egg fusion. They are the first identified members of a large gene family coding for multidomain membrane proteins (ADAMs) that include A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease domain. In this study, we report the isolation and structural organization of the mouse fertilin b gene. The gene is present as a single copy and covers a region of approximately 55 kilobases in the genome. The fertilin b gene is composed of at least 20 exons interrupted by 19 introns. The sizes of the exons are relatively small and vary from 56 to 193 bases; the sizes of introns vary from 350 bases to 9.4 kilobases. The exon-intron boundaries conform to the GT/AG rule with one exception: GC replaces GT at the 58 splice site in intron 13. Comparison of genomic organization between mouse fertilin b and the previously sequenced ADAM family gene, human MDC [Katagiri et al.