A map of the mouse Cyp3a locus.

The mouse Cyp3a locus on chromosome 5 was analyzed by the use of bacterial artificial chromosomes. Five out of the six known Cyp3a genes, Cyp3a11, Cyp3a13, Cyp3a16, Cyp3a25, Cyp3a41 and Cyp3a44 were found to be linked to each other, however, Cyp3a13, possibly because of a distant position from the main body of the locus was not. In the intergenic regions additional Cyp3a genomic sequences were identified providing evidence for duplication events within the locus. Moreover, a Cyp3a41 duplicated gene, Cyp3a41A, is expressed at significant levels as the corresponding mRNA can be detected in the EST database. In line, therefore, with the higher number of mouse versus human CYP3As, the mouse locus covers a larger chromosomal region and appears to be considerably more complex.