Trapping and sequence analysis of 1138 putative exons from human chromosome 18

Area of Science:

• Genomics
• Human Genetics
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Chromosome 18 (HC18) contains regions associated with bipolar disorder.
• Identifying novel genes is crucial for understanding genetic contributions to diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discover novel genes on human chromosome 18 (HC18) using exon trapping.
• To identify previously uncharacterized genetic elements on HC18.

Main Methods:

• Exon trapping was performed on HC18-specific cosmids.
• BLAST database searches were used to identify known homologies.
• Mapped exons were compared against the Celera database of annotated HC18 genes.

Main Results:

• 1138 exons were trapped, with 1052 mapped to HC18.
• 190 exons matched known Unigenes or ESTs on HC18.
• 850 novel exons were identified, with no significant homology to public databases or Celera genes.

Conclusions:

• The 850 novel exons identified suggest the presence of hundreds of previously undiscovered genes on HC18.
• This finding expands the known gene content of HC18.
• Further research is warranted to characterize these novel genes and their potential roles in health and disease.