RT Journal
A1 Chureau, Corinne
A1 Prissette, Marine
A1 Bourdet, Agnès
A1 Barbe, Valérie
A1 Cattolico, Laurence
A1 Jones, Louis
A1 Eggen, André
A1 Avner, Philip
A1 Duret, Laurent
T1 Comparative Sequence Analysis of the X-Inactivation Center Region in Mouse, Human, and Bovine
JF Genome Research 
JO Genome Research 
YR 2002 
FD June 01 
VO 12 
IS 6 
SP 894 
OP 908 
DO 10.1101/gr.152902 
UL http://genome.cshlp.org/content/12/6/894.abstract 
AB We have sequenced to high levels of accuracy 714-kb and 233-kb regions of the mouse and bovine X-inactivation centers (Xic), respectively, centered on the Xist gene. This has provided the basis for a fully annotated comparative analysis of the mouse Xic with the 2.3-Mb orthologous region in human and has allowed a three-way species comparison of the core central region, including theXist gene. These comparisons have revealed conserved genes, both coding and noncoding, conserved CpG islands and, more surprisingly, conserved pseudogenes. The distribution of repeated elements, especially LINE repeats, in the mouse Xic region when compared to the rest of the genome does not support the hypothesis of a role for these repeat elements in the spreading of X inactivation. Interestingly, an asymmetric distribution of LINE elements on the two DNA strands was observed in the three species, not only within introns but also in intergenic regions. This feature is suggestive of important transcriptional activity within these intergenic regions. In silico prediction followed by experimental analysis has allowed four new genes, Cnbp2, Ftx, Jpx, and Ppnx, to be identified and novel, widespread, complex, and apparently noncoding transcriptional activity to be characterized in a region 5′ of Xist that was recently shown to attract histone modification early after the onset of X inactivation.[The sequence data described in this paper have been submitted to the EMBL data library under accession nos. AJ421478, AJ421479, AJ421480, andAJ421481. Online supplemental data are available athttp://pbil.univ-lyon1.fr/datasets/Xic2002/data.html andwww.genome.org.]