Bex1, a gene with increased expression in parthenogenetic embryos, is a member of a novel gene family on the mouse X chromosome

Abstract

Parthenogenetic and normal blastocysts were compared using differential display analysis as a means to identify new imprinted genes. A single gene was identified with increased expression in parthenogenetic blastocysts, suggesting it might be an imprinted gene expressed from the maternally inherited allele. The gene, named Bex1 (brainexpressedX-linked gene), maps near Plp on the mouse X chromosome and to Xq22 in humans. Database homology searches revealed two additional uncharacterized cDNAs similar to Bex1 that were named Bex2 and Bex3. Allele-specific expression analysis of Bex1 using F1 blastocysts indicated an excess of transcript expressed from the maternally inherited allele compared with the paternally inherited allele. This excess level of transcript derived from the maternally inherited allele may be due to imprinted X inactivation of the paternally inherited allele in the extraembryonic lineages of female embryos rather than a result of genomic imprinting.