Characterization of the human aldolase B gene

The structure of the human gene encoding the aldolase B isozyme has been determined, including the sequence of 14,887 base-pairs. The 5'- and 3'-ends have been determined by S1 mapping. There is a single gene for this enzyme in humans that was determined from the sequence and restriction enzyme digestions of genomic DNA. The gene is 14,500 base-pairs long containing nine exons. In addition, 924 and 208 base-pairs of the 5'- and 3'-flanking region, respectively, have been determined. There is a high degree of conservation of nucleic acid sequence between aldolase B genes of human, rat and chicken. The conservation extends to untranslated and flanking regions, and includes the derived protein structures. In the 5'-flanking region there are several sequence elements that are conserved in vertebrate aldolase B genes in addition to the T-A-T-A and C-C-A-A-T boxes. These sequences may be involved in the co-ordinate and tissue-specific control of expression of this gene. Several possible polymorphic sites were detected in the sequence of the human gene which may be useful for linkage mapping of the human genome and diagnostic analysis of alleles in families with hereditary fructose intolerance.