ASSIGNMENT OF THE CHICKEN MAXGENE TO CHROMOSOME HE BY FLUORESCENCE IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION

It has been shown that the protein encoded by the MAX gene plays an im portant role in the physiological activity of Myc oncoproteins. In thi s study, we determined the chromosome location of the chicken MAX gene via fluorescence in situ hybridization. Hybridization of two biotinyl ated cloned fragments of 5.7 kb and 12.0 kb derived from the chicken M AX locus localized the gene to chromosome 5p. It is the third gene mar ker to be assigned to this telocentric macrochromosome. Since the MAX sequence is highly conserved both at the nucleotide and at the amino a cid level in a wide range of vertebrate species, our data may provide evidence for the existence of a segmental homology between human and c hicken chromosomes.