International Mammalian Genome Society

D29 Orthologs of Two Genes Tightly Linked in C. elegans Map Close to Each Other in Mouse and Human

Zdenek Trachtulec¹, Lorraine Eley², Roger Cox², and Jirí Forejt¹. ¹Institute of Molecular Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Videnska 1083, 142 20 Prague 4, Czech Republic; ²Welcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Windmill Rd, Headington, OX37BN Oxford, UK

The orthologs of two tightly linked C. elegans genes, R07E5.10 and R07E5.13, were mapped in regard to previously identified members of a syntenic group conserved in vertebrates and non-vertebrates*. The two human orthologs map about 2 Mbp apart on 6q27, in a region corresponding to 1/1500 of the total genome size. The two mouse orthologous transcription units are also syntenic. The human, mouse, and snake orthologs of the R07E5.10 gene, encoding the Programmed cell death 2 protein, PDCD2 (also called RP8), were found to be adjacent to the TATA-binding protein (TBP) gene, a previously recognized member of the syntenic group. The gene for TBP itself resides next to another member of this group, the gene encoding the Proteasomal subunit C5 (PSMB1) both in mouse and human*. Such a distribution of transcription units is highly non-random and indicates a long-range cis-acting relationship among the genes within the conserved syntenic group.

*Trachtulec et al.: Linkage of TATA-binding protein and Proteasome subunit C5 genes in mice and human reveals synteny conserved between mammals and invertebrates. Genomics 44, 1-7 (1997).