MOLECULAR-CLONING OF A PUTATIVE SEROTONIN RECEPTOR GENE FROM BARNACLE, BALANUS AMPHITRITE

We isolated a putative serotonin receptor gene from a genomic library of the barnacle, Balanus amphitrite Darwin, using an NcoI fragment of the barnacle G protein-coupled receptor gene that is homologous to the alpha(2)-adrenoceptor. The cloned genomic DNA had no intron and speci fied an open reading frame of 1137 base pairs encoding 379 amino acids (aa). The predicted aa sequence has a typical seven hydrophobic trans membrane spanning region and a consensus G protein-binding motif. This receptor was most homologous to the human 5HT(1A) receptor and closel y related to other 5HT(1) receptor subtypes.