Key result
Three Xenopus laevis tropomyosin cDNAs were isolated and characterized, revealing they are generated from a single gene using two promoters and alternate splicing with distinct temporal and tissue expression.
The study characterizes the complex alternative splicing and promoter usage of a single Xenopus laevis alpha tropomyosin gene to generate distinct muscle and non-muscle transcripts during development.
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No immediate clinical implications; extends tropomyosin gene regulation insights in amphibians but leaves mammalian relevance open.
We have isolated and characterized three Xenopus laevis tropomyosin cDNAs (XTM alpha 2, XTM alpha 4 and XTM05). XTM alpha 2 and XTM alpha 4 were isolated from a stage-42 embryo cDNA library and XTM05 from an oocyte cDNA library. XTM alpha 2 and XTM alpha 4 both code for a 284-amino-acid protein homologous to the skeletal alpha tropomyosin but diverge in their 3' untranslated sequences. This divergence is due to an absence of splicing in the early embryo. XTM05 codes for a 248-amino-acid non-muscle tropomyosin. Sequence analysis indicates that the three cDNAs are generated from a single gene which uses two promoters and possibly three sets of alternate exons. Northern blot analysis, with specific probes against each cDNA, was used to study the expression of the X. laevis alpha tropomyosin gene during development and in specific tissues. This analysis showed a different temporal usage of the two promoters and characterized the tissue-specific expression of the different transcripts.
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Hardy et al. (1991) studied this question. Three Xenopus laevis tropomyosin cDNAs were isolated and characterized, revealing they are generated from a single gene using two promoters and alternate splicing with distinct temporal and tissue expression.
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