Stearoyl-CoA desaturase mRNA is transcribed from a single gene in the ovine genome

Clones corresponding to ovine stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) cDNA were isolated from an adipose tissue cDNA library. All of these clones represented a single mRNA species as judged by restriction fragment and DNA sequence analysis. RNase protection analysis demonstrated that this SCD transcript is highly expressed in adipose tissue and liver, and in the mammary gland of lactating animals. A lower level of expression was detectable in a variety of other tissues including brain. Levels of the SCD transcript were decreased in adipose tissue during lactation, and this appears to be related to a marked decline in serum insulin and insulin-responsiveness of the tissue. Southern analysis of ovine and mouse genomic DNA demonstrated that the ovine SCD cDNA hybridised in a manner consistent with a single gene for SCD in ovine DNA; mouse genomic DNA produced a pattern of hybridisation consistent with the previously characterised mouse SCD-1 and SCD-2 genes. Three ovine cosmids were isolated that comprised the restriction fragments predicted by the genomic Southern analysis. The ovine SCD gene was predicted to be encompassed within a 23 kbp region that was present in all three cosmids. These results demonstrate that SCD is transcribed from a single gene in the ovine genome and this gene is insulin-responsive in ovine adipose tissue.