CLONING AND SEQUENCING OF A CELL-SURFACE PROTEIN-ENCODING GENE CONSERVED IN SEA-URCHIN SPECIES

We report the nucleotide sequence of a fragment of DNA derived from a sea urchin genomic clone containing the cell surface Bep4 (butanol-ext racted protein 4)-encoding gene. The structural gene is interrupted by four introns and the promoter region contains TATA and CAAT consensus motifs. The transcription start point (tsp) was also determined. Rema rkable homologies, between Bep4 and other proteins known to be involve d in cell interactions, were observed regarding two potential Ca2+-bin ding sites and the corresponding DNA consensus sequences. We also repo rt the conservation of the bep4 gene and its corresponding Bep4 protei n between various sea urchin species by way of Southern and Western bl otting.