1. Genomic organization of the rat Clock gene and sequence analysis in inbred rat strains
- Author
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Karin J. Wallace, Anne M. Curtis, Pamela J. Kaisaki, Dominique Gauguier, Garret A. FitzGerald, Peng Y. Woon, Karène Argoud, and Marie-Thérèse Bihoreau
- Subjects
Sequence analysis ,Molecular Sequence Data ,CLOCK Proteins ,SNP ,Biology ,03 medical and health sciences ,Exon ,0302 clinical medicine ,Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid ,Genetics ,Animals ,Humans ,Respiratory function ,Amino Acid Sequence ,Circadian rhythm ,Promoter Regions, Genetic ,Molecular clock ,Gene ,030304 developmental biology ,Genomic organization ,Sequence variation ,0303 health sciences ,Genetic polymorphism ,Base Sequence ,Sequence Homology, Amino Acid ,Comparative genomics ,Rats, Inbred Strains ,DNA ,Exons ,Genomics ,Rats ,CLOCK ,Trans-Activators ,5' Untranslated Regions ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
While mutations in genes that function in the core molecular clock may disrupt circadian periodicity , their relevance to diurnal variation in metabolic, cardiovascular, and respiratory function is unknown. The circadian Clock gene product is an essential regulator of central and peripheral circadian rhythms in mammals. We have elucidated the complete exon–intron organization of the Clock gene in rat and have carried out an extensive search for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a panel of 12 inbred rat strains that exhibit diversity in studies of central and peripheral organ function and disease. The rat Clock gene consists of 23 exons spanning approximately 75 kb. Comparative sequence analysis identified 33 novel SNPs, including 32 that distinguish the Brown Norway (BN) rat from the other strains studied. Most notable were two novel mutations in the BN sequence at exon 8, Ile131Val and Ile132Val, occurring in a segment of the highly conserved PAS-A domain of the protein. These results afford the opportunity to assess the impact of genetic variation in Clock on central and peripheral functions subject to the core molecular clock and to test the importance of Clock variants in explaining diversity among rat strains in the expression of phenotypes, such as blood pressure, subject to circadian oscillation.
- Published
- 2006