Isolation and characterization of rat skeletal muscle and cytoplasmic actin genes

U. Nudel, D. Katcoff, R. Zakut, M. Shani, Y. Carmon, M. Finer, H. Czosnek, I. Ginsburg, D. Yaffe

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

Southern blots of rat genomic DNA indicate the existence of at least 12 EcoRI DNA fragments containing actin gene sequences. By using specific probes and stringent conditions of hybridization, it was found that only one of these fragments contains sequences of the skeletal muscle alpha-actin gene. Recombinant bacteriophages originating from eight different actin genes were isolated from rat genomic DNA libraries. One of them, Act 15, contains the skeletal muscle actin gene. Another clone, Act I, contains a gene coding for a cytoplasmic actin, identified tentatively as the beta-actin gene. Both genes have a large intron very close to the 5' end of their transcribed region, followed by several small introns. DNA sequence analysis and comparison with the available data on actin genes in other organisms indicated an interesting relationship between the positions of introns and the evolutionary relatedness. Several intron sites are conserved from at least the echinoderms to the vertebrates; others appear to be present in some actin genes and not in others.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2763-2767
Number of pages5
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume79
Issue number9 I
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1982
Externally publishedYes

Funding

FundersFunder number
National Institute of General Medical SciencesR01GM022767

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