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(385) DNA POLYMORPHISMS IN THE Y-SPECIFIC AMELOGENIN-LIKE GENE (AMELY) OF BROWN TUFTED CAPUCHIN AND PIGTAIL, JAPANESE, AND RHESUS MACAQUES. Adams, Heather1, Rickords, Lee1, 1 Dept of Biochemistry, Tulsa, OK ABSTRACT- The Amelogenin (AMELX) gene codes for an extracellular matrix protein that is involved in mammalian tooth bud development, specifically in the formation of tooth enamel. In humans, AMELX is located on the short arm of the X chromosome at Xp22.3-p22.1. Interestingly, a highly homologous Amelogenin-like (AMELY) gene is located near the pericentric region of the Y chromosome at Yq11. The unique difference is that an intronic 177 bp deletion is found in the human AMELY gene. AMELX and AMELY genes have been found in several mammalian species. The objectives of this study were to: a) determine polymorphisms of AMELX and AMELY genes in the Pigtail macaque, Japanese macaque, Rhesus macaque and the Brown Tufted Capuchin; and b) assess sequence homology between the human AMELX and AMELY deletion regions and the above mentioned primate AMELX and AMELY sequences. PCR primers were designed to span the AMELX and AMELY genes and subsequent PCR products were sequenced and compared to previously published human sequence data. Although the majority of the sequence data were highly homologous, polymorphisms were found within the deletion region. Specifically, deletions of 190 bp, 187 bp, 178 bp and 191 bp were found in the AMELY gene of the Pigtail, Japanese and Rhesus macaques and brown-tufted Capuchin, respectively. KEY WORDS: Y-Chromosome, Amelogenin |
