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BEGAIN: A novel imprinted gene that generates paternally expressed transcripts in a tissue- and promoter-specific manner in sheep

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Abstract

In this article we describe the organization of the ovine BEGAIN gene, located 138 kb proximally from the imprinted DLK1 gene and 203 kb from the CLPG mutation that causes the callipyge phenotype. We have shown that in sheep BEGAIN is ubiquitously expressed, including in skeletal muscle, throughout development. We have identified four major BEGAIN transcripts resulting from a combination of alternate promoter usage and alternative splicing. In ovine brain, kidney, liver, and skeletal muscle, these four BEGAIN transcripts exhibited paternal or biallelic expression in a tissue- and promoter-specific manner. Our results indicate that the CLPG mutation does not alter transcript levels of BEGAIN, contrary to its effect on a core cluster of genes in the DLK1-GTL2 domain. Thus, although the BEGAIN gene represents another paternally expressed gene in the ovine DLK1-GTL2 imprinted domain, its expression is not governed by the long-range regulatory element that contains the CLPG mutation.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the FRFC (No. 2.4525.96), Crédit aux Chercheurs (No. 1.5.134.00) from the FNRS, Crédit à la Recherche from the University of Liège, the SSTC (No. 0135), USDA/NRICGP grants Nos. 94-04358, 96-35205, 98-03455, and 01-03332, and the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, Utah State University, Logan, UT. Carole Charlier is Chercheur Qualifié FNRS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences, Utah State University, 4700 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah, 84322-4700, USA

    Maria A. Smit & Noelle E. Cockett

  2. Department of Genetics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liège, 20 Boulevard de Colonster (B43), Liège, Belgium, 4000

    Xavier Tordoir, Michel Georges & Carole Charlier

  3. Genoscope, Centre National de Séquençage, 2, rue Gaston Crémieux, CP 5706, EVRY cedex, 91057, France

    Gabor Gyapay

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  1. Maria A. Smit
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  2. Xavier Tordoir
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  3. Gabor Gyapay
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  4. Noelle E. Cockett
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  5. Michel Georges
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  6. Carole Charlier
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Correspondence to Michel Georges.

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Smit, M.A., Tordoir, X., Gyapay, G. et al. BEGAIN: A novel imprinted gene that generates paternally expressed transcripts in a tissue- and promoter-specific manner in sheep. Mamm Genome 16, 801–814 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-004-2415-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00335-004-2415-z

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