Microchromosomal assignment of the chicken ovotransferrin and adenylate kinase genes

Ovotransferrin, an egg-white protein implicated in the transfer of trace elements from the hen oviduct to the developing avian embryo, and cytosolic adenylate kinase, an essential enzyme involved in the interconversion of adenine nucleotides in energetically active tissues, have been mapped to two separate chicken microchromosomes by fluorescent in situ hybridization. Considering present and previous data, the possibility of loss of intron material resulting in the compactation of genes in chicken microchromosomes is briefly discussed.