Identification of 18 mouse ABC genes and characterization of the ABC superfamily in Mus musculus

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) genes encode a family of transport proteins know n to be involved in a number of human genetic diseases. In this study, we c haracterized the ABC superfamily in Mus musculus through in silico gene ide ntification and mapping and phylogenetic analysis of mouse and human ABC ge nes. By querying dbEST with amino acid sequences from the conserved ATP-bin ding domains, we identified and partially sequenced 18 new mouse ABC genes, bringing the total number of mouse ABC genes to 34. Twelve of the new ABC genes were mapped in the mouse genome to the X chromosome and to 10 of the 19 autosomes. Phylogenetic relationships of mouse and human ABC genes were examined with maximum parsimony and neighbor-joining analyses that demonstr ated that mouse and human ABC orthologs are more closely related than are m ouse paralogs. The mouse ABC genes could be grouped into the seven previous ly described human ABC subfamilies. Three mouse ABC genes mapped to regions implicated in cholesterol gallstone susceptibility. (C) 2000 Academic Pres s.