THE MOUSE SURFEIT LOCUS CONTAINS A CLUSTER OF 6 GENES ASSOCIATED WITH 4 CPG-RICH ISLANDS IN 32 KILOBASES OF GENOMIC DNA

The clustered arrangement (no two adjacent genes are separated by more than 73 base pairs [bp] and two genes overlap by 133 bp at their 3′ ends) of the four genes (Surf-1 to -4) identified so far in the mouse surfeit locus (T. Williams, J. Yon, C. Huxley, and M. Fried, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:3527-3530, 1988) is the tightest gene clustering found in any mammalian genome to date and strongly suggests the possibility of cis-interaction and/or coregulation of gene expression. Thus, we are analyzing the surfeit genes in detail and are defining the extent of the cluster. Here we present the sequence of the entire Surf-4 gene and define the 3′ and 5′ extents of its mRNAs. The Surf-4 gene has heterogeneous transcriptional start sites, and its 5′ end lies in a CpG-rich island. The gene specifies three mRNAs, with the two most abundant mRNAs differing in the locations of their 3′ polyadenylation sites. Only the most abundant Surf-4 mRNA would overlap the 3′ end of the Surf-2 gene by 133 bp. Two new genes (Surf-5 and Surf-6) have been identified in the surfeit gene cluster by Northern (RNA) blot analysis. The 5′ end of Surf-6 lies within the CpG-rich island about 8 kilobases (kb) from the CpG-rich island containing the 5′ end of Surf-3, and Surf-5 lies between Surf-3 and Surf-6. Thus, the cluster contains a unique arrangement of four CpG-rich islands within 32 kb associated with the 5′ ends of the six surfeit genes. The neighboring CpG-rich islands have been located 500 and 100 kb distant on either side of the surfeit cluster, indicating that the end of the cluster of islands has been reached.