Genetics, biochemistry, and developmental regulation of alcohol dehydrogenase in peromyscus and laboratory mice

The ADH-negative deermouse and the strain-specific variation in level of ADH in liver tissue of inbred mice represent useful systems to investigate gene regulation at a molecular level. Few systems have advanced to the state where specific hybridization probes can be employed to determine if loci which control the amount of a protein in a tissue do so by controlling the concentration of a specific messenger RNA [Owerbach et al, 1981; Tukey et al, 1981]. The relatively high level of ADH in mouse liver and the tissue and developmental specificity of expression of this enzyme should provide useful tools for use in identifying specific ADH cDNA clones in a liver cDNA library Norgard et al, 1980]. In addition, the deermouse ADH is immunologically cross-reactive with the mouse enzyme [Felder, unpublished observation]; the availability of ADH-negative and ADH-positive deermice may also prove useful in developing successful cloning strategies.