THE HUMAN AND MOUSE HOMOLOGS OF THE YEAST RAD52 GENE - CDNA CLONING, SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS, ASSIGNMENT TO HUMAN-CHROMOSOME 12P12.2-P13, AND MESSENGER-RNA EXPRESSION IN MOUSE-TISSUES

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD52 gene is involved in DNA doubl e strand break repair and mitotic/meiotic recombination. The N-termina l amino acid sequence of yeast S. cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pomb e, and Kluyveromyces lactis and chicken is highly conserved. Using the technology of mixed oligo nucleotide primed amplification of cDNA (MO PAC), two mouse RAD52 homologous cDNA fragments were amplified and seq uenced. Subsequently, we have cloned the cDNA of the human and mouse h omologs of yeast RAD52 gene by screening cDNA libraries using the iden tified mouse cDNA fragments. Sequence analysis of cDNA derived amino a cid revealed a highly conserved N-terminus among human, mouse, chicken , and yeast RAD52 genes. The human RAD52 gene was assigned to chromoso me 12p12.2-p13 by fluorescence in situ hybridization, R-banding, and D NA analysis of somatic cell hybrids. Unlike chicken RAD52 and mouse RA D51, no significant difference in mouse RAD52 mRNA level was found amo ng mouse heart, brain, spleen, lung, liver, skeletal muscle, kidney, a nd testis. In addition to an similar to 1.9-kb RAD52 mRNA band that is present in all of the tested tissues, an extra mRNA species of simila r to 0.85 kb was detectable in mouse testis. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.