Eleven densely clustered genes, six of them novel, in 176 kb of mouse t-complex DNA

Targeted sequencing of the mouse t-complex has started with a 176-kb, gene- rich BAC localized with six PCR-based markers in inversion 2/3 of the highl y duplicated region. The sequence contains II genes recovered primarily as cDNAs from early embryonic collections, including Igfals (previously placed on chromosome 17], Nubp2 (a fully characterized gene), Jsapl (a JNK-bindin g protein), Rsp29 (the mouse homologue of the rat gene), Ndk3(a nucleoside diphosphate kinase], and six additional putative genes of unknown function. With 50% GC content, 75% of the DNA transcribed, and one gene/16.0 kb ton average), the region may qualify as one of the most gene-dense segments in the mouse genome and provides candidates for dosage-sensitive phenotypes an d mouse embryonic lethals mapped to the vicinity.