Genomic organization of the mouse fertilin beta gene that encodes an ADAM family protein active in sperm-egg fusion.

摘要

The fertilin alpha and beta 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: which include A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease domain). This study reports the isolation and structural organization of the mouse fertilin beta gene. The gene was found to be present as a single copy and covered a region of approximately 55 kb in the genome. The fertilin beta gene was composed of at least 20 exons interrupted by 19 introns. The sizes of the exons were relatively small and varied from 56 to 193 bases; the sizes of introns varied from 350 bases to 9.4 kb. The exon-intron boundaries conformedto the GT/AG rule with one exception: GC replaced GT at the 5' splice site in intron 13. Comparison of genomic organization between mouse fertilin beta and the previously sequenced ADAM family gene, human MDC, showed 12 conserved exon-intron boundaries.The fertilin alpha gene was also analysed.