An intronless gene encoding a poly(A) polymerase is specifically expressed in testis.

Previous work demonstrated that a single pre-mRNA could generate multiple forms of mammalian poly(A) polymerase mRNAs by alternative splicing or alternative polyadenylation. A cDNA encoding a testis-specific poly(A) polymerase was isolated in this study. The transcription level of Papt in testis of a 2 weeks old mouse was much lower than that of the general poly(A) polymerase gene, Pap. However, the transcription ratio of Papt to Pap was reversed in testis of a 4 weeks old mouse. Transient expression analysis showed that GFP-Papt fusion protein is present both in the nucleus and cytoplasm of HeLa cells. These results suggest that Papt is involved in polyadenylation of transcripts expressed during spermatogenesis.