Chromosomal mapping, sequence and transcription analysis of the porcine fertilin beta gene (ADAM2).

Fertilin beta (ADAM2) forms a part of the heterodimeric surface protein fertilin, found on the plasma membrane of mammalian sperm, and has been implicated in the process of sperm-egg fusion. Analysis of cDNA products obtained from adult porcine testis mRNA has presented a sequence corresponding to 2620 bp of the ADAM2 gene. This sequence contained an open reading frame encoding a 735-amino acid protein and homologous to ADAM2 genes known in other mammalian species. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of genomic DNA showed that the 2620 bp of cDNA sequence comprises at least 21 exons and spans approximately 76 kb of genomic DNA, with its size and structure being relatively conserved between mouse, human and pig. Fluorescence in situ hybridization was used to map ADAM2 to chromosome 15 of the pig, using a bacterial artificial chromosome clone from the PigE BAC library. This finding is consistent with comparative mapping experiments performed between pig and human chromosomes. Analysis of nine mRNA samples, by reverse transcriptase-PCR, from different porcine tissues has also suggested that expression of ADAM2 is limited to the testis, a finding that is consistent with other mammalian species.