Structure and evolution of mouse interleukin 6 gene.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism in the interleukin 6 gene of murine rodents extending phylogenetically from Mus musculus domesticus to the rat has been analyzed. Most species exhibit distinct restriction site patterns. In contrast, limited polymorphism was found in the tumor necrosis factor alpha gene indicating different selective pressure acting on both genes. The gene encoding interleukin 6 was isolated from a genomic library and the exon/intron organization was determined by restriction analysis and limited DNA sequence analysis. It consists of five exons which distribute over about seven kilobases, thus resembling in structure and organization the human counterpart. Furthermore, no restriction fragment length polymorphisms in the interleukin 6 gene of autoimmune strains NZB, NZW, MRL-lpr/lpr and BxSB could be detected for either EcoRI, BamHI or HindIII.