Characterization of a large population of mRNAs from human testis

We present the results of single-pass sequencing of 779 expressed sequence tags from normal human testis cDNA clones. Of the sequences generated, 319 (41%) appeared to be completely unknown and are likely to represent new genes, and 289 (37%) were identified based on exact or nonexact matches to sequences in public databases. In analyses of hybridization of four tissues, testis, brain, liver, and kidney, 6 of 12 cDNAs clones revealed testis-specific expression. This argues for the value of the combination of random sequencing and analysis of cellular expression for large-scale characterization of gene expression in the testis.