The cDNA sequence encoding bovine pregastric esterase.

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify specific parts of the gene encoding calf pregastric esterase (PGE). Primers based on conserved regions in human gastric lipase (HGL) and rat lingual lipase (RLL) were used to screen a cDNA library prepared from calf tongue tissue. This resulted in the cloning of the entire coding sequence for PGE, which exists as a mature 378-amino-acid (aa) polypeptide with a molecular mass of 42,960 Da. The PGE, HGL and RLL genes all share a high degree of identity at both the nucleotide and amino-acid sequence levels. Except for the Gly-Xaa-Ser-Xaa-Gly sequence containing the active site Ser, there is little identity with non-preduodenal lipases.