Restriction fragment length variations and chromosome mapping of two mouse metallothionein genes,Mt-1 andMt-2

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Restriction endonuclease fragment length variations (RFLVs) were found through the use of cDNA probes for metallothionein genes 1 (Mt-1) and 2 (Mt-2) in the mouse. RFLVs were detected in restriction patterns generated byBglII andXbaI in theMt-1 gene and byPvuII in theMt-2 gene. All laboratory strains carry theMt-1 a andMt-2 a alleles. Among strains of wild origin, some Western European subspecies (Mus mus domesticus andM. m. brevirostris) also carry theMt-1 a andMt-2 a alleles. In contrast, a European subspecies (M. m. musculus) and the great majority of subspecies from East Asian countries (M. m. molossinus, Chinese mice of wild origin, andM. m. yamashinai) carry theMt-1 b andMt-2 b alleles. Adomesticus strain from Bulgaria and twocastaneus strains from Thailand and Philippines carry the intermediate combination ofMt-1 b andMt-2 a alleles. Using the RFLVs, we mapped theMt-1 andMt-2 genes on chromosome 8, and they appear to be very closely linked since no recombination was observed between them in any of the mice examined. Data from three-point cross tests showed that the recombination frequencies are 4.31% betweenOs andMt, 15.52% betweenMt andPrt-2, and 19.83% betweenOs andPrt-2. The gene order ofOs-Mt-1,Mt-2-Prt-2 has been confirmed.