DNA sequence of the rat growth hormone gene: location of the 5' terminus of the growth hormone mRNA and identification of an internal transposon-like element.

The present communication describes the molecular cloning and DNA sequence determination of the rat growth hormone (rGH) gene. The rGH gene was cloned on an 11 kilobase EcoRI fragment of total rat DNA; it has four intervening sequences which correspond in position to those of the human growth hormone (hGH) gene. One of the intervening sequences in the rGH gene contains a possible transposable element: a 200 base pair direct repeat that is itself flanked by an exact 15 base pair direct repeat. The DNA sequence was used to estimate the location of the 5' end of the mature growth hormone mRNA. By S1 nuclease mapping it was located approximately 25 bases "downstream" from a TATAAA sequence presumed to play a role in initiation of transcription of the rGH gene.