ISOLATION AND SEQUENCE-ANALYSIS OF THE CHICKEN GABA(A) RECEPTOR ALPHA-1-SUBUNIT GENE PROMOTER

A genomic clone containing the 5'- Banking sequence of the chicken GAB A(A) receptor alpha 1-subunit-encoding gene (GabR alpha 1) was isolate d and characterized. An intron was found to interrupt the 5'-untransla ted region. The transcription start point (tsp) was determined by prim er extension, RNase protection and the amplification of chick brain fi rst-strand cDNA. DNA sequence analysis revealed a number of putative t ranscriptional regulatory motifs, including a TATA box 30 nucleotides upstream from the tap, and that this region is a CpG island. While the re is conservation between the chicken and human GabR alpha 1 sequence s, the chicken GabR alpha 1 promoter has a different structure to thos e reported fbr the GABA(A) receptor beta 3- and delta-subunit-encoding genes.