Genetic analysis of two rat acetyltransferases.

Single copies of two closely related acetyltransferase genes were detected in Sprague-Dawley derived rat DNA by Southern blot analysis using gene-specific hybridization probes for the 3' end of the acetyltransferase coding regions. Sequence analysis of the two acetyltransferase genes showed that both had intronless, 870 bp coding regions and coded for 290 amino acid protein sequences that were approximately 85% homologous to one another. The calculated molecular weights were 33.4 and 33.9 kDa and the calculated isoelectric points 4.98 and 5.21 for AT1 and AT2, respectively. The inferred amino acid sequence of both the genes and cDNAs indicated that both rat acetyltransferases have cysteines at positions 44, 68 and 223 which have been conserved in all known vertebrate acetyltransferases. Transcripts for both AT1 and AT2 were detected in brain, colon, esophagus, heart, kidney, liver, lung, mammary gland, dorsal prostate, ventral prostate, salivary gland, seminal vesicles, small intestine, spleen, stomach, testes, urinary bladder and uterus of Sprague-Dawley rats by both Northern blot and RT-PCR analysis. A third gene with >80% sequence homology to codons 118-158 of acetyltransferase was also detected.