Human cellular sequences detectable with adenovirus probes. I. Evidence for novel repeat sequences and a possible E1a-like cellular "gene"

Previous studies suggesting homology between human cellular DNA and the DNAs from adenovirus types 2 and 5 are extended in the present paper. A clone (ChAdh), isolated from a human genomic DNA library using an adenovirus probe, hybridized to discrete regions of adenovirus 2 DNA, including part of the transforming genes E1a and E1b, as well as to repeated sequences within human DNA. The E1a and E1b genes both hybridize to the same 300 base pair Sau3AI fragment within ChAdh although there is no obvious homology between E1a and E1b. The Ad 2 E1a gene was also used as a probe to screen other cellular DNAs to determine whether repeated sequences detectable with Ad2 DNA probes were conserved over long evolutionary periods. Hybridization was detected to the genomes of man, rat, mouse and fruit fly, but not to those of yeast and bacteria. In addition to a "smear" hybridization, discrete fragments were detected in both rodent and fruit fly DNAs. The experiments reported suggest the existence of two different types of cellular sequences detected by Ad 2 DNA: (1) repeated sequences conserved in a variety of eukaryote genomes and (2) a possible unique sequence detected with an E1a probe different from that responsible for hybridization to repeated sequences. This unique sequence was detected as an EcoRI fragment in mouse DNA and had a molecular size of about 8.8 kb.