Isolation and characterization of a cDNA clone corresponding to the mouse t-complex gene Tcp-1x

The mouse t complex on chromosome 17 is known to harbour many genes which have an important role in spermatogenesis. One of these, Tcp-1 has been cloned and shown to code for a protein probably essential for acrosome formation. During the isolation of a cDNA for Tcp-1 two other homologous sequences were recognized and described as Tcp-1x and Tcp-1y. In this paper we describe the isolation of a cDNA which has been shown by in situ hybridization to correspond to the Tcp-1x gene. Sequence analysis has confirmed that a 140 bp region of homology between Tcp-1 and Tcp-1x lies in the 3' portion of both genes. Northern blotting has revealed that the Tcp-1x gene is expressed abundantly in liver where two transcripts are detectable and hybrid selection shows that the gene codes for a 37 kDa protein. A search of the DNA database has failed to find any significant homology between Tcp-1x and any other sequences apart from Tcp-1.