Molecular cloning and expression of the mouse ornithine decarboxylase gene

We used mRNA from a mutant S49 mouse lymphoma cell line that produces ornithine decarboxylase (OrnDCase) as its major protein product to synthesize and clone cDNA. Plasmids containing OrnDCase cDNA were identified by hybrid selection of OrnDCase mRNA and in vitro translation. The two of these with the largest inserts together span 2.05 kilobases of cDNA. Southern blot analysis of DNA from wild-type or mutant S49 cells, cleaved with EcoRI or with BamHI, revealed multiple bands homologous to OrnD-Case cDNA, only one of which was amplified in the mutant cells. RNA transfer blot analysis showed that the major OrnD-Case mRNA in the mouse lymphoma cells is 2.0 kilobases long. A similar size mRNA was found in mouse kidney and was more abundant in the kidneys of mice treated with testosterone, an inducer of OrnDCase activity in that tissue.