Multiple mRNA species of choline acetyltransferase from rat spinal cord

A cDNA library directed by a specific primer was constructed from the rat spinal cord and screened with 32P-labeled rat choline acetyltransferase cDNA which was recently isolated in this laboratory. Sequence analysis of 29 clones indicated that there are four types of cDNA (R1-, R2-, N1- and M-types). The nucleotide sequences in these cDNAs were identical in the coding region and the first 38 bp of the 5'-noncoding region, but differed in the 5'-noncoding region upstream of -38 bp. The R1-type was identical to the cDNA previously cloned from the rat spinal cord. The M and N1-type cDNAs both had sequences homologous to that of the cDNA previously obtained from the mouse spinal cord. Polymerase chain reaction analysis confirmed the presence of these 4 types of mRNA and found another type (N2-type) of transcript. The numbers of cDNA clones isolated and the relative amounts of polymerase chain reaction products for each type of mRNA suggested that the most abundant transcript was M-type. Sequencing of the genomic clone containing the 5'-region of choline acetyltransferase mRNA revealed that these five types of mRNA species were transcribed from three different promoter regions and produced by differential splicing of the 5'-noncoding exons.