MOLECULAR-CLONING AND CHARACTERIZATION OF AVIAN N-METHYL-D-ASPARTATE RECEPTOR TYPE1 (NMDA-R1) GENE

Birds have several advantages in the study of memory formation, as imp rinting and passive avoidance behaviors in chick are often used as mod el systems. However, the primary structure of the bird N-methyl-D-aspa rtate (NMDA) responsive glutamate receptor, which is assumed to play a critical role in memory formation, has not been determined. In this r eport we describe the cDNA cloning of a subunit of NMDA receptors (NMD A-R1) from duck and analysis of its structure and distribution in the brain. The N-terminal 898 amino acids of the NMDA-R1 were well conserv ed between duck and mammals, but the homology was completely lost in t he C-terminus. In situ hybridization showed that the duck NMDA-R1 gene was expressed throughout the brain as it is in mammals.