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Heat‐shock inducible polyubiquitin gene UbI undergoes alternative initiation and alternative splicing in mature chicken testes
Author(s) -
Mezquita J.,
Pau M.,
Mezquita C.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
molecular reproduction and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.745
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1098-2795
pISSN - 1040-452X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2795(199704)46:4<471::aid-mrd4>3.0.co;2-l
Subject(s) - biology , somatic cell , microbiology and biotechnology , alternative splicing , transcription (linguistics) , chromatin , rna splicing , heat shock protein , spermatogenesis , gene , promoter , messenger rna , gene expression , genetics , rna , linguistics , philosophy , endocrinology
Ubiquitin, a heat‐shock protein highly expressed during spermatogenesis, plays an essential role in the differentiation of the germinal cells, particularly in the structural changes of chromatin taking place at the end of the process. To shed light on the mechanisms that modulate transcriptional activity of the heat‐shock inducible polyubiquitin gene Ubl during spermatogenesis and stabilize the message when transcription is not longer active, we have compared the characteristics of Ubl transcripts in mature and immature testes and somatic cells. In mature chicken testes, transcription starts at a site placed closer to the heat‐shock promoters than in somatic tissues. This site is upstream from the TATA box used in somatic cells. In addition, Ubl transcript undergoes an alternative splicing that produces a longer 5′ untranslated region in mature testis. These findings may provide a basis for the observed increase in expression of Ubl in mature chicken testes and for the stability of the message when transcription ceases at the end of spermatogenesis. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 46:471–475, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.