Analysis of the mouse MAP1B gene identifies a highly conserved 4.3 kb 3 ' untranslated region and provides evidence against the proposed structure ofDBI-1 cDNA

We determined the previously unknown 3' end of MAP1B mRNA. We found an unus ually long and highly conserved 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of 4.3 kb an d detected a polymorphism in the 3' flanking region probably due to the int egration of an endogenous retroviral MuERV-L element. Furthermore, we found that MAP1B 3'UTR overlapped with the 5' end of the cDNA encoding DBI-1. Ho wever, further analysis suggested that the published structure of DBI-1 cDN A is most likely the result of fortuitous joining of unrelated cDNA fragmen ts during cloning. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.