STUDIES OF CLONING, CHROMOSOMAL MAPPING, AND EMBRYONIC EXPRESSION OF THE MOUSE RAB GERANYLGERANYL TRANSFERASE BETA-SUBUNIT

The mouse Rab geranylgeranyl transferase beta subunit has been cloned from a mouse E8.5 embryonic cDNA library. Sequence comparison reveals 97.4% sequence identity at the amino acid level to the rat clone isola ted from an adult rat brain cDNA library. This gene, given a gene symb ol of Rabggtb, is mapped in the distal region of mouse chromosome 3. I t is ubiquitously expressed in adult animals but displays an interesti ng pattern of expression during a specific time of embryonic developme nt. The expression of this gene can be detected in the whole embryos d uring early embryonic stages and is specifically concentrated in the d eveloping brain, heart, and liver between gestation stages of E11.5 an d E13.5. In addition, the expression of this gene is induced by retino ic acid in a mouse embryonal carcinoma cell line, P19.