Cloning and characterisation of multiple acetyl-CoA carboxylase transcripts in ovine adipose tissue

A full-length ovine acetyl-CoA carboxylase-encoding cDNA (ACC) has been cloned from adipose tissue and completely sequenced. The open reading frame of 7041 nucleotides (nt) is highly homologous to the previously cloned human, rat, chicken, yeast and algal ACC (85, 89, 82, 54 and 54% identity, respectively). Transcript heterogeneity was found in the 5' and 3' untranslated regions (UTR) resulting in ACC transcripts in the range of 9.0 kb to 9.4 kb. Heterogeneity at the 5' end was generated by the insertion of a 47-nt sequence, resulting in transcripts with either 272 or 319 nt in the 5'-UTR. Heterogeneity at the 3' end was the result of the use of different polyadenylation signals. RNase protection analysis demonstrated that shorter transcripts containing 1635 nt predominated over longer transcripts of 2065 nt in the 3'-UTR.